The Esmond train wreck on January 28, 1903, 3:30 am, about 9 miles (14 km) east of present-day Tucson, Arizona, killed 14 people, including the engineers of both trains. The accident occurred when the eastbound Crescent City Express collided head-on with the westbound Pacific Coast Express. Both trains were running late. A communication error was determined to be the cause of the wreck. A night operator named Clough admitted that he did not deliver a second order to Conductor Parker which instructed him to pull the Crescent City Express, headed for New Orleans, on to the Esmond siding to allow the Pacific Coast Express, headed for San Francisco, to pass by.