The 20th Century Limited connected New York City to Chicago; its running time had just weeks earlier been reduced from 20 hours to 18.26, the 20th Century Limited, was approaching the town of Mentor from the west, running on a mainline owned by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.Alex Hammond, the conductor of the Limited, inspected the switch shortly after the disaster, and found that it was set and locked for the sidetrack.With this evidence, the New York Central Railroad insisted that the accident was the result of willful misplacement of the switch by an unknown party.Moon of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern issued a statement that corroborated this belief, stating that he was "satisfied that somebody, with a key, opened the switch with malicious intent.
Colorized photograph of the scene; likely taken after June 21, due to a car being removed.