• 1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.

Ashtabula River railroad disaster



Wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly, January 20, 1877. The locomotive Socrates is at upper right

Details
Date: December 29, 1876; About 7:30 pm
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio, U.S.
Operator: Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Incident type: Deraillment and fire
Cause: Bridge collapse

Statistics
Trains: 1
Crew: 19
Deaths: 92 (approximately)
Injured: 64

The Ashtabula River railroad disaster (also called the Ashtabula horror, the Ashtabula Bridge disaster, and the Ashtabula train disaster) was the failure of a bridge over the Ashtabula River near the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, in the United States on December 29, 1876. A Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway train, the Pacific Express, passed over the bridge as it failed. All but the lead locomotive plunged into the river. The train's oil lanterns and coal-fired heating stoves set the wooden cars alight. Firefighters declined to extinguish the flames, leaving individuals to try to pull survivors from the wreck. Many who survived the crash burned to death in the wreckage. The accident killed approximately 92 of the 160 people aboard. It was the worst rail accident in the U.S. in the 19th century and the worst rail accident in U.S. history until the Great Train Wreck of 1918.

The coroner's report found that the bridge, located about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the railway station, had been improperly designed by the railroad company president, poorly constructed, and inadequately inspected. As a result of the accident, a hospital was built in the town and a federal system set up to formally investigate fatal railroad accidents.

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