Roll of Honor
Incident
Location: Pennsylvania Incident Date: Thursday, July 18, 1935
Detective Frank Bell succumbed to injuries sustained the previous day when he fell underneath a train that he was attempting to board in Sayre, Pennsylvania.
He was attempting to the board a coach car as the train moved slowly passed the Sayre train station in order to ride it to Burdett, New York, where he had been stationed for several days due to a flood. Both of his feet fell beneath the train and were severed. He was taken to a local hospital where he died the following day after undergoing several blood transfusions.
Detective Bell had served with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Police Department for 25 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and adopted daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-RR-D7B42393- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
25 years. You could have gone home.
Detective Bell gave the Lehigh Valley Railroad Police Department 25 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Bethlehem community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Bell.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Frank C. Bell is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Lehigh Valley Railroad Police Department, 3 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Frank C. Bell's cause is highlighted.
How Frank C. Bell Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Frank C. Bell is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
5 officers from Lehigh Valley Railroad Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
