1887 Great Chatsworth train wreck

Infobox rail accident


title= Great Chatsworth Train Wreck
date= Around midnight, August 10–August 11, 1887
location= Chatsworth, Illinois
coordinates=
line = Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad
cause= Bridge collapse
trains= 1
pax= 700
deaths= 81–85
injuries= 169–372

The Great Chatsworth Train Wreck was a major rail accident that occurred late on the night of August 10, 1887, convert|3|mi|km|0|lk=on east of the town of Chatsworth, Illinois, U.S.A.. A Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad (TP&W) train bound for Niagara Falls from Peoria crossed over a trestle weakened earlier in the day by a fire, causing it to collapse. Between 81 and 85 people were killed, and 169–372 injured.cite news |url=http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/wkill.Html |author=Harper's Weekly |title=The Illinois Railroad Accident. |date=1887-08-20 |accessdate=2006-11-21]

Crash

The summer of 1887 had been hot and dry. Fearing that sparks from the steam engines of the trains could ignite brush fires, the TP&W began performing controlled burns to prevent an uncontrollable brush fire. On the day of the accident, TP&W crews performed a controlled burn near the site of the accident—it is suspected that failure to extinguish the fire resulted in the charring of the bridge.cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:BLPB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=11ADF0E780818828&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2 |title= 1887 train wreck near Chatsworth one of worst in U.S. |publisher=The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) |date=2007-08-05 |accessdate=2008-05-12 |author=Kemp, Bill]

That evening, a TP&W train departed Peoria, traveling east through Eureka and Chenoa. Two steam engines pulled six fully loaded wooden passenger cars, six sleeper cars, and three luggage cars. In total, the train carried about 700 vacationers taking advantage of a special offer to visit Niagara Falls.cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03EED81430E633A25751C1A96E9C94669FD7CF |title=Over One Hundred Dead; And Four Times As Many Wounded. A CROWDED EXCURSION TRAIN CRASHES THROUGH A BURNING BRIDGE-PERHAPS THE WORK OF THIEVES.
author=Unknown |date=1887-08-12 |accessdate=2008-05-13] Just before the accident site, the coach accelerated down a slope, reaching convert|40|mph|km/h|0. The first engine successfully crossed the weakened bridge as it collapsed; the second engine crashed into the side of the hill, while each following passenger car telescoped into the next. Sleeper cars attached to the rear of the train ground to a halt just short of the bridge.

Four days later, the TP&W gathered together the remaining wreckage and set it on fire. The crash resulted in the increased use of steel in passenger cars.

Historical marker

In 1954, the state of Illinois placed a historical marker commemorating the event along U.S. Route 24. The marker has the following text:

References

External links

* [http://www.peoriacountyillinois.info/news/chatsworthacc.html List of victims]