Ashtabula, Ohio is in the lake effect snow belt of Lake Erie, like Buffalo. On December 29, 1876, Ashtabula was being buried by a major snowstorm, dumping huge amounts of snow on the small town.
At about 7:30 p.m., the Pacific Express, crack passenger train #5 of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway was rushing through the wild and bitter darkness, trying to make up time that it had lost earlier in its journey. Nearly two hours late, there were one hundred and fifty six people aboard the eleven coaches and two heavy engines.
As the train approached Ashtabula, it had to cross a 70 foot high double-track iron bridge over the Ashtabula River, less than 1,000 feet from the station. Winds were blowing at gale force as the engineer backed off the throttle, preparing for his stop. He felt the track beneath his steam locomotive give way as he crossed the bridge, and he opened the throttle back wide open trying the clear it.
The bridge crashed into the chasm of the frozen river, taking with it the other engine, two express cars, two baggage cars, three passenger coaches, one of them the smoking car, one drawing room coach, and three sleeping coaches.
The populace of the small town rushed to the rescue, but ninety two people died in the disaster. Many of the deaths resulted from the blaze that started in the wreckage from the fires that heated the train cars.
It was determined that faulty construction led to the collapse of the bridge. As a result of the disaster, no more rail bridges were built that depended solely on iron trusses for their support. Steam heat would replace the dangerous wood and coal fired stoves that caused the fire in the Ashtabula crash and in other notable train wrecks.
Sadly, the railroad’s chief engineer and the designer of the bridge would take their lives following the disaster.
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