Engineering Tragedy: The Ashtabula Train Disaster

THE Ashtabula train disaster and bridge collapse was the worst train disaster of the 19th century, claiming the lives of 97 people, has made it to the small screen.

The engineering and structural failures that caused the collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade, also took down the most luxurious train of the day, “The Pacific Express #5.”

The accident happened Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29 1876. during a raging blizzard sending the train crashing 70-feet (21-m) into a river gorge and costing the lives of 97 people. The disaster shocked United States, yet it’s a story that’s been lost in the pages of history.

This disaster became a rallying cry for regulation and change between big business, the public and the US federal government.

In a strange twist of fate, the disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroad’s chief engineer and the suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the railroad president and designer and builder of the bridge.

The PBS documentary covers the engineering, construction, and collapse of the Ashtabula Bridge; the treacherous conditions that hampered the rescue attempts of trapped passengers; the heroes surrounding this event, including America’s first African-American telegraph operator; and the ensuing investigations that prompted new national safety standards for the railroads.

After this disaster public outcry forced individual states to pass new bridge building standards and inspection laws that apply even today.

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