Roll of Honor
Incident
Location: West Virginia Incident Date: Saturday, November 7, 1931
Detective Walter Piatt succumbed to injuries sustained approximately eight hours earlier when he was crushed between two train cars near Colliers, West Virginia.
He and several other detectives were riding on the train just before midnight when the air brakes experienced a malfunction. Detective Piatt was standing between two cars, approximately 75 cars back from the engine, when the malfunction caused them to buckle. He was crushed by the cars and thrown to the ground.
He was taken to the Ohio Valley Hospital in Steubenville, Ohio, where he died the following morning.
Detective Piatt had served with the Pennsylvania Railroad for several years and had previously served with the Bellaire, Ohio, Police Department.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and six children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-RR-C048F949- 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
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Detective Piatt served with the Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphpia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Piatt.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Walter F. Piatt 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 Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department, 22 of 36 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 61.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Walter F. Piatt's cause is highlighted.
How Walter F. Piatt Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Walter F. Piatt is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
35 officers from Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
