The Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster, also called the "Ashtabula Horror", was the worst train disaster in American history when it occurred in Ohio on 29 December 1876 at 7:28 p.m. Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Train No. 5, The Pacific Express left a snowy Erie, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of December 29, 1876. As The Pacific Express plowed through the snow and crossed a trestle over the Ashtabula River, about 100 yards from the railroad station at Ashtabula, Ohio, the passengers heard a terrible cracking sound. In just seconds, the trestle fractured and the train plunged 70 feet into a watery abyss. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroads Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Flagship City Location Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Government County Erie County Founded 1795 Mayor Joseph Sinnott Geographical characteristics Area 72. ... The Ashtabula River is a river located northeast of Cleveland in Ohio. ... Railyard in the port of Ashtabula Ashtabula is a city located in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and the center of the Ashtabula Micropolitan Statistical Area (as defined by the United States Census Bureau in 2003). ...

The lead engine made it across the trestle, a second engine, two express cars, and part of the baggage car rested with their weight upon the bridge while 11 railcars fell into a raging fire. The wooden cars were set aflame by kerosene-heating stoves.

Of 159 passengers and crew onboard that night, 64 people were injured and 92 were killed or died later from injuries sustained in the crash (48 of the fatalities were unrecognizable or consumed in the flames.) Indeed it was the worst railroad tragedy to that point in American history. Twenty years later, in Ashtabula's Chestnut Grove Cemetery, a monument was erected to all those "unidentified" who perished in the Ashtabula Railroad disaster.

The famous hymnwriter Philip Bliss and his wife lost their lives in the disaster. // Headline text Philip Paul Bliss (9 July 1838 – 29 December 1876) was an American writer of hymns and a Gospel singer. ...

The following is the official recorded summary of this disaster as recorded in the Ashtabula County archives in 1877:

"Uh, well, like, it was a not-so-great day, i guess. December 29, 1876, was the date of the occurrence; the time of day about half past seven o'clock in the evening. At that moment the Pacific Express, No. 5, bound westward over the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway, broke through the iron bridge that spanned the Ashtabula river on the line of the road, and suddenly plunged with a precious cargo of human life into a chasm seventy feet deep. The night was a wild and bitter one. A furious snow-storm had raged all the previous day, and had heaped great masses of snow along and across the track. The wind was a cold, biting one, and was blowing with a velocity of about forty miles per hour. The darkness was dense. On such a night as this the train, composed of eleven coaches, and drawn by two heavy engines, approached the fated bridge, located about one thousand feet east of the Ashtabula station. It was more than two hours behind the time for its arrival. On board there were not less than one hundred and fifty six human souls. There were two express cars, two baggage cars, three passenger coaches, one of them the smoking car, one drawing room coach, and three sleeping coaches. The bridge was an iron structure, and carried a double track. It consisted of two trusses of the Howe truss type, and the length of the span between abutments was one hundred and fifty feet. The train approached the bridge on the south track. At the moment of the crash, one engine, by a sudden plunge forward, had gained the west abutment, while the other engine, two express cars, and part of the baggage car rested with their weight upon the bridge. The remainder of the train was drawn into the gulf. Of the persons on board, at least eighty perished in the wreck; at least sixty three were wounded more or less, but escaped from death; five died after their rescue."

External links

• THE ASHTABULA BRIDGE DISASTER {This link includes pictures of the bridge before and after the collapse and additional information}