- In the heart of Amish country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a magical place where families can be transported back in time to an age when the steam engine was king of the rails.

Nestled in the hillsides across from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is the historic Strasburg Rail R which dates back to 1832 and is the oldest American railr operating under its original cha It's a place where the sound of a steam engine's whistle echoes across the valley, sparking the imagination.

With one of the largest collecti of vintage passenger cars and rolling stock in North Ameri families can enjoy a relaxing 45 minute ride from Strasburg to a town called With so much to do and see, the Strasburg Rail Road is a true national treasure.

Experience the power of steam.

The Strasburg Rail Road is a pro of this PBS program.

Learn more at strasburgrailroad.

(bright music ending) (pensive music) (pensive music ending) (solemn music) (telegraph clacking) (telegraph clacking continues) (telegraph clacking continues) (somber music) (somber music continues) - Urgent telegram, Mr. Collins.

- Get this to Mr. Stone right aw - Yes, sir.

(somber music) (banging on door) (banging on door continues) (ominous music) (door creaking) I have an urgent telegram for Mr He must see this right away.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Stone is retired for the evening.

I can give it to him in the morn - [Messenger] No, he needs to see it tonight.

- Very well.

(somber music) - What?

What's happening?

- An important message, sir.

They say it's urgent.

(paper crackling) (ominous music) - Impossible!

(mellifluous music) (fire roaring) (dramatic mellifluous music) (fire crackling) (mellifluous music) (fire popping) - Im questioning the design of this bridge.

Those bridges were made of wood.

This is- - Tomlinson!

I employed you to make drawings, not to criticize my intelligence (train chugging) (passenger straining) I wanna know why fireman didn't even attempt to throw water on the fire.

(crowd murmuring) (gavel banging) - Mr. Stone, you have not been d (gavel banging) Mr. Stone!

(somber music) - I thought I heard a gunshot.

(Julia speaking indistinctly) Mr. Stone, are you okay?

(somber music) - The Ashtabula disaster was the and most notorious bridge failure of the 19th century, as well as a transforming event in American history.

- The loss of 97 lives in a smal off the shores of the Lake Erie shocked the entire nation.

The reaction was so overwhelming because it occurred in the midst of a nationwide concern over railroad safety and rampant speculation in railroads.

- As a society, we look back on these types of disasters, not only for the loss of life, but because there are critical lessons to be learned.

- [Narrator] The Ashtabula Bridge was conceived and built during one of the most difficult and trying times of our nation's history, the American Civil War.

(bombs exploding) With trains carrying soldiers and heavy artillery from battle many bridges were being upgraded to handle the increased loads.

Railroads were being expanded to move supplies, tame the West and grow a nation.

- During the Civil War, Ohio had more railroad mileage than any other state.

In fact, Ohio was at the transportation crossroads of America.

In 1862, the old wooden railroad over the Ashtabula River in Ashtabula, Ohio, built by the Cleveland, Painesvi and Ashtabula Railroad circa 185 was one of those scheduled for a The new bridge was a big project since it spanned a wide and deep - It was a time of tremendous in led by men like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.

There was also unbridled wealth synonymous with men like John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan.

Amasa Stone, the builder of the Ashtabula Bridge, was part of this new culture, business and innovation.

- [Narrator] Millionaire industr and railroad mogul Amasa Stone, took on the project like he did everything else, with steely determination and supreme confidence.

- Now there's several fortuitous that take place in Amasa Stone J First of all, at age 13, he begins working with an uncle, making cabinetry.

Of course, he had worked in all kinds of machinery, building things, barns and so forth on the farm.

And then at age 17, he starts working with his brother, Daniel, building churches and houses, mainly in the Brookfield area.

- In the winter of 1837, he attended the academy of Professor Bailey in Worcester, having saved enough from his sma to pay the expense of a single t - Then he has another fortuitous event that takes place.

William Howe marries his sister and so he begins working with him building bridges and develops in the Howe truss which William Howe had the paten - William Howe was a talented inventor and bridge builder.

He ingeniously improved and redesigned Stephen Long's 1830 truss patent.

He received his own patent in 1840 with the major innovation being to replace the vertical tension timbers of Long's truss, members that required careful, precise shaping by expert framers.

Howe's design substituted instea wrought iron rods threaded on ea Much simpler.

Howe's design used cast iron bearing blocks at the top and bottom chords to prevent crushing of the wood when the nuts on those rods were tightened down.

Not only was Howe's design stron it much simplified fabrication and direction of the bridge.

- William Howe's superior design was recognized by the chief engi of the Western Railroad, George Washington Whistler, who used the Howe's system to design the Connecticut River Howe and Stone were contracted t and installed a bridge that would span the 1,264 feet of the Connecticut River, using six piers and seven truss spans of 180 feet each.

When the bridge was completed in July of 1841, it gained the attention of the w - They did something nobody else had done before.

They prefabricated the trusses o before they put them up.

So you didn't have to have a master timber climber and builder, climbing up 100 foot above the river in order to nail joints together And so later on, with Frederick he would establish the first prefabrication shop in America.

- [Narrator] The next year in 18 George Washington Whistler was c as a consulting engineer by Tsar Nicholas I to build the Saint Petersburg-Moscow railway, which would be Russia's first major railway.

As part of that construction, he would help build the Mista River Howe truss bridge.

The Howe truss embodied a transformative event in US bridge building history.

Soon the Howe truss would become the most popular rail bridge design in the world.

Not only were they built in the United States, but they were built in England, Russia, Australia, and Germany.

The time Stone spent with his brother-in-law, William Howe, was fruitful.

At the age of 24, Stone enlisted the financial support of Azariah Boody, and purchased the patent rights from Howe for $40,000.

He then ingeniously added his own improvements to the truss design and began building railroad bridges on his own.

With the success of the Springfi Connecticut River Bridge under h and the patent he purchased from his brother-in-law, William Stone was ready to build his for In 1847, the young 29-year-old Stone was contracted to build another bridge over the Connecticut River.

This was a replacement bridge for a bridge that was destroyed by a hurricane.

The bridge was on the main line of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield railroad, and every day it was down, it was costing the railroad mone - He builds, Stone rebuilds this bridge in record time, 40 days, he astonishes himself and he astonishes the rest of the bridge building world and becomes probably the best known bridge builder in the United States, period.

Now the brothers divided their territories up.

One took Connecticut another took Pennsylvania, but Amasa Stone, he took the Mid and so he, along with Frederick they build a railroad, which again, Joblin says, was the largest construction project of its time from Columbus to Cleveland.

Now all of his work is in the Cleveland area.

- [Narrator] Stone's reputation as a brilliant carpenter, contra and bridge builder had been ceme Through partnerships, hard work, determination, and a keen instinct for success, Stone had already built hundreds of bridges and miles of railroad.

After building the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad and then later the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railro he would become the director of By 1857, he was the president of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, which would later merge as part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad By 1850, Amasa Stone had moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and by 1855, he had increased his wealth substantially with ventures into railroads, ba oil, iron manufacturing, coal mining, and more.

By 1862, when he was designing the Ashtabula Bridge, his fortune would place him among America's most influential and richest men.

By the mid 19th century, wooden railroad bridges were beginning to fall out of favor with the railroads.

Iron would now be the new materi because it was fireproof, insect proof, rot resistant, and more durable than wood.

Amasa Stone had seen the writing on the wall when he decided to use all-iron in the new Ashtabula Bridge, but it was also more expensive.

He also might've wanted to help his brother, Andros Stone, develop iron products to enhance markets for his iron mill.

When the Ashtabula Bridge was due for replacement, Stone didn't look far for the bridge pattern he would use.

He chose the bridge pattern he was most familiar with and was trusted around the world, the Howe truss.

From 1868 until 1875, approximat of the wooden truss railroad bridges built in Ohio were Howe truss bridges.

Also, the first iron railroad br ever built in America was an all-iron Howe truss bridge, designed by Richard B. Osborne.

It was built in 1845 to hold the weight of coal trains on the Philadelphia Reading Rail The bridge was only 34 feet long, but in Stone's mind, why not create a longer new all-iron version using lighter rod iron braces?

Stone had also built a shorter v using cast iron, over the Clevel so in his mind, it was a trusted - The system was different than other bridge systems of the There are no rivets or large pins holding sections together.

Instead, the bridge was held together by pressure.

- [Narrator] The bridge used long threaded tensioning rods going through large angled block and running from the top chord to the lower chord.

At the end of each rod were large tensioning nuts.

When all the parts were in place the nuts were tightened, not only pulling the structure t and holding all the parts in place with that pressure, but also substantially adding to its strength by a process known as post-tensi During the life of the bridge, these nuts would loosen occasion from the vibrations of use and the expansion and contractio caused by hot and cold weather.

When the nuts loosened, they'd have to be tightened acco The system worked beautifully on a normal wood and iron Howe truss system, but Stone's all-iron version included details that would prove problematic.

In mid 19th century America, Stone was not alone in trying to incorporate wrought iron into bridge design.

In 1862, when Stone was beginnin on the Ashtabula Bridge, two Pennsylvania companies invented and patented competing structural systems that used hollow tubes composed of curved wrought iron plates, stitch riveted together.

The most successful of the two, the Phoenix column, was used throughout the Zoarville Station Bridge near Zoar, Ohio, built in the 18 But a hollow column like this was a patented system owned by a competitor, and Stone wanted to use a system he owned the patent rights for and was most familiar with.

However, when Stone applied his to a much larger and heavier str it created problems that he didn't anticipate.

- Amasa Stone was part of a culture of innovation that was permeating the nation.

He was a driven man, and in the spirit of other innovators, he pushed himself, but that's what innovators do.

- During this time in history, there was a tremendous amount of innovation, but at the same time, people were suspicious of new te They didn't understand it.

They didn't know how it would transform their lives.

For example, during the Victoria when early railroads and locomotive technology were first developed, people were frightened that the of thundering along at unimaginable speeds.

Many felt it would be impossible to breathe by traveling at such a velocity, or passenger's eyes would be dam by having to adjust to the swift motion of high speed.

The majority of Americans had a love-hate relationship with all the innovations that were going on during this t especially as it related to publ They wanted to trust innovators and for the most part, they did.

However, people were becoming wa and beginning to voice their con over how technology was used and for what purpose.

They wanted to know who ultimately controlled it and how it was going to affect their lives.

(dramatic music) - Just 10 years before the Ashtabula disaster, a different, yet notorious, bridge accident occurred on the Cleveland, Paine and Ashtabula Railroad, a predec of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.

It occurred at the Little Sister Creek crossing at Angola, New York, December 18 Labeled the Angola Horror by jou the Buffalo bound New York Expre hit a bad spot in the track, derailing the last two coaches full of holiday travelers and plunging them into an icy go A raging fire caused by upended led to the death of around 50 pa all of which were tragic premoni of the railroad's future.

- The Ashtabula Bridge collapse occurred in the Gilded Age.

There was high tension over the deep changes coming from unbridled industrial represented in this case by the rise of the first big business in America, the railroad industry.

There were few regulations of steam trains, steam ships and bridges.

Coupled with experimentation and huge expansion, this led to an accident rate that aroused great alarm in the American public.

- [Narrator] Despite newer and better technology for iron bridges, Stone took the bridge he was most familiar with, the wood and iron Howe truss pat and converted it to an all-iron using the heavier rod iron I-bea from his brother's Rolling Mill At the time, I-beam manufacturin was a relatively new technology that Amasa Stone's brother, Andr was helping to pioneer.

However, by the time Stone decid to build his all-iron Howe truss other iron bridge builders had abandoned the Howe form to explore other structural desi Stone's all-iron Howe truss brid would be 150 feet in the length and sit between two stone abutments 70 feet above the rive They would have two main trusses standing between two abutments and be connected with lightweight diagonal bracing.

However, the bracing only connec to every other top chord joint, another design aspect that would play a significant role in the collapse of the bridge when the lug in the top angle bl of the second panel failed.

To support the top wooden deck of the bridge, closely spaced iron I-beams were clamped to the top chords of the main trusses.

The deck itself was supported by heavy longitudinal pine strin overlaid with smaller oak ties and side beams on the edges of the deck.

Two sets of train track rails were then fastened to the oak ties, completing the bridge.

A project that began with Stone' to use an all-iron Howe truss over the Ashtabula gorge was about to encounter personal problems, planning issues, and critical construction diffic As railroad building gained momentum in the United States, there was an increasing need for inexpensive and easy to construct bridges with greater strength.

With trains in their stock becoming faster and heavier, engineers began to study the effect and force trains had on bridge design.

During this time, bridge design began evolving from an empirical art to a scien - Traditionally, bridge building had been an empirical art that relied upon trial and error rules of thumb, and model buildi rather than mathematical analysi There were a few universities at teaching engineering as we know in the United States.

With the development of sophisti and advanced iron truss plans, quantitative mathematical resear into bridge stresses emerge as a crucial factor in bridge de Soon the entire academic realm of civil engineering was driven to understand complex mathematical equations.

In 1847, Squire Whipple, an engineer based in Utica, New was the first to publish detaile of bridge stresses and evolve the scientific basis of bridge design in America.

Until then, the correct methods of computing the strain and frame structures were not known.

- [Narrator] Although an accomplished builder and successful businessman, Stone knew he would need a bridge man for the job and hired civil engineer Joseph to draft the construction plans.

Tomlinson was an experienced bridge builder and a brilliant mathematician, he even held a patent for a suspension bridge.

However, Stone proved difficult for Tomlinson to work with.

In fact, Stone would have many heated arguments with Tomlinson over the plans he was hired to draft.

Tomlinson, a qualified and educated civil engineer, and a proper English gentleman, was frustrated with Stone over the design and plans of the Ashtabula Bridge.

To Tomlinson it seemed many of the sound engineering ideas he suggested to Stone, turned into a point of discussio and strong disagreement.

(dramatic music) - Mr. Stone as a wooden truss br this design was excellent, but I would not trust such tremendous weight to wrought iron braces of this s - Are you questioning the judgme of a man who has designed and built bridges for 25 years?

- I'm questioning the design of this bridge.

Those bridges were made of wood.

This is made of iron.

It's completely different.

It requires a special understanding about it.

- Understanding?

A special understanding of the iron being produced in my own brother's foundry?

Besides, back in 1850, not too far from here, I built a shorter cast iron version of the bridge and it worked well.

- Indeed, sir, but this bridge i and it's going to be much heavie I have to insist on the addition at the points I've indicated on Not only that, but those braces are gonna have to be tied together by iron plates so that they can function together as a single unit.

In fact, we should probably- - Tomlinson!

I employed you to make drawings, not to criticize my intelligence or to get into my business.

- [Narrator] Tomlinson's anger held through the night.

He had tried to work with Stone, but after enough of Stone's rants and belittlements, he decided to turn in his resign It's also possible that after Stone's refusal to listen to sound engineering a Tomlinson decided he didn't want associated with the Ashtabula Br (soft music) (soft music continues) (soft music continues) - So you're quitting, Mr. Tomlin - You can call it what you like but I will not continue to work on this project with our continuous disagreement Good day to you, sir.

(soft tense music) - [Narrator] Tomlinson was conce about a number of aspects concerning the bridge.

Stone refused to listen, but Tomlinson's assertions would soon prove accurate.

- The interesting part about the that Joseph Tomlinson quits is that he knew there were probl but couldn't do anything about i There were no whistleblowers bac because there was no regulatory That's part of the larger picture in this story.

During this time of unbridled in the government didn't want to interfere with progress.

So for Tomlinson, who do you tel when you suspect problems in a design or a safety issue?

Back then, as an individual, you had little recourse.

Men like Stone had power, money, and the ability to make or ruin What they demanded or wanted to happen happened.

For the first time in American h the country was not being led by elected politicians, but by the captains of industry.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - [Narrator] Stone was convinced his all-iron Ashtabula Bridge would become world famous.

The departure of Tomlinson didn't seem to faze Stone at all He simply summoned two other men for the job.

The first man was A.L.

Rogers, a 48-year-old carpenter boss who had built many of Stone's wooden Howe truss bridges, but had never built an all-iron bridge in his entire career.

The other man was Albert Congdon a machinist at the Lake Shore sh that Stone would make responsibl for the prefabrication of the br Congdon would play a crucial rol when construction problems required radical adjustments.

A.L.

Rogers and his crew can normally erect a wooden Howe truss bridge in a matter of days, but he would soon find out that iron was more difficult to work with than wood, plus Joseph Tomlinson's plans called for the bridge to have a six inch camber, but Stone changed that camber to three inches.

Now some of the I-beams were not fitting into place.

- When the bridge's I-beams were rolled and cut, they were done according to Joseph Tomlinson's specifications that the bridge have a six inch A small amount of arching known was commonly used in bridge cons so when weight was applied, the bridge would not have a sag.

This was especially critical in a bridge like Stone's where the members were held in p without any direct connections and only through the force exert by the tension in rods.

Joseph Tomlinson's plans called for a six inch camber.

However, Stone told Rogers that the bridge was never designed for that much camber and to change the camber to thre instead of Tomlinson's six inche This point, the first construction problem presented itself.

This decision made the custom I-beams too long and impossible to fit into posit - [Narrator] To correct this pro the top chord angle blocks were and sent back to the Lake Shore to have one fourth of an inch shaved off the top vertical lugs This unfortunately reduced their strength by 15% and would become another factor contributing to the failure of t When the task was complete, the men were finally able to fin the assembly of the bridge, but even that was more difficult than A.L.

Rogers had anticipated - When A.L.

Rogers and his men began post-tensioning the bridge they discovered that the process was significantly more difficult than it had been with the wooden Howe truss bridges they had built previously.

Because wood is relatively flexi a series of parallel wooden compression elements with minor variations in length could all be brought into bearin with their supporting angle bloc through the application of a moderate post-tensioning force by tightening the nuts at the ends of the iron rods.

But when these parallel compression elements were made of iron, which is about 20 times stiffer performing this post-tensioning would've been much more problema Because iron elements shorten mu under a given post-tensioning fo it would've been significantly more difficult to bring slightly undersized ele into bearing on the angle blocks So, it seems quite clear that when the Ashtabula Bridge trusses were post-tensioned, some of the diagonal I-beam elem couldn't be fully tightened, and in a few cases, workers applied such a large post-tensioning force to tighten up slightly undersize that some of these elements actually buckled under the post-tensioning force alone.

Clearly Stone's adaptation of the Howe truss concept from wood to iron had created some serious unanticipated problems.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] After months of wor the men finally had the bridge t However, as soon as the false wo supporting the bridge was remove it failed to hold its own weight and began to sag alarmingly.

Now Stone and Rogers began to re why Joseph Tomlinson had used a six inch camber instead of the mere three inches now in place.

- A.L.

Rogers was really challenged by the bridge and had never built an all-iron during his entire career.

He did report the incident to St and the decision was made to reconstruct the bridge with the six inch camber.

Now, with the camber reset at si the beams were too short.

To fix this problem, the men used iron boiler plate shims to fill the gaps between the ang and the shortened beams.

- [Narrator] After completing the unorthodox repair job, the false work was again removed However, for a second time, the bridge was still sagging under its own weight.

Rogers also noticed that some of the I-beams had been damaged and slightly be from their tensioning methods and the weight of the bridge.

The sag was not as bad as before but it was still too great to put the bridge into service.

- A subtle but important shortcoming in Stone's design was that he chose to make all the top chords and diagonal members from multiple parallel elements.

Now, from the mid 19th century t it's been common practice to design a structural member that carries compression as a single integrated element like this hollow box.

And as you can see, when I subject this member to compressive loading, it's very strong, but Stone shows to constitute these members from multiple parallel elements And even though this model uses exactly the same amount of as the hollow box that I just sh it buckles at a tiny fraction of the applied compressive loadi because these slender elements buckle individually rather than as a single integrat - [Narrator] Concerned and frust by the failures to fix the saggi Rogers knew he needed help.

Unwilling or more than likely afraid to go to Stone, Rogers sought out his friend and railroad's chief engineer and purchasing agent, Charles Co Luckily, Collins was in town visiting with his wife at the home of his father-in-law, Ed Harmond, not even a mile away, so he walked there to ask for so (soft music) (knocking on door) (soft music continues) Charles Collins was a competent gentle, kind, and beloved in the Ashtabula community he visited often.

He was also responsible for overseeing all bridge inspec Even though Collins was the chie and oversaw all major bridge con Stone had other plans for the Ashtabula Bridge.

(soft music) - Mr. Collins, I don't want you overseeing the Ashtabula Bridge.

I want you to focus on the Jamestown to Franklin line.

- But Mr. Stone, I'm the chief engineer of the road.

If I don't oversee the project, then who will?

- I'll be hiring a bridge man for the project.

I just need you to focus on the Jamestown to Franklin line.

It's important that line stay on and you're the man to do it.

Now, don't let pride get in the way of progress.

You just do as I ask.

- Yes, sir.

(soft music) - [Narrator] This perceived rebuff seemed to sour Collins to the whole idea of the Ashtabu When Rogers came to Collins and asked him to look at the bri and help him figure out why it was sagging, Collins refused, because he had never been there to see the work and didn't want to interfere.

Yet when urged on a personal lev he reluctantly agreed to go look at the bridge.

(workers chattering) - See these braces?

They're placed incorrectly.

They should be turned.

- Turned?

- Yes.

If you turn them, they'll be much stronger.

(workers chattering) - Pretend that this two by four is an I-beam.

If you lay it flat, it's not as strong and will bend.

However, if you turn it on its e it becomes much stronger and won This is why you must turn the I- You'll wanna speak to Mr. Stone since it's his project and bridg Stone didn't want me to have anything to do with this I'm not gonna start now in the middle of its construction.

- Wait, wait, wait.

If I have to talk to Stone, he is going to fire me.

I need you to help me.

I need you to talk to him for me I'm asking you as a friend.

- Okay, for you, I'll speak to h (soft music) - [Narrator] Collins spoke to Stone and the next day, Stone came to see the problem fo After inspecting the situation, Stone was not happy, but agreed that the braces were placed incorrectly and needed to be turned.

He also could see the bridge needed more support braces added to the end panels.

- Mr. Congdon, you sir, are now in charge of this project.

Since Mr. Rogers here doesn't seem to be able to finish the bridge, he'll be your assistant.

Turn these braces, add some more support beams in the end panels, and for God's sake, do whatever it takes to make them fit.

I want this bridge open.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] Although confident they had placed the I-beam diago as originally indicated in the b the men got to work turning the To do this, the lugs on the angle blocks that were designed to keep the I-beam diagonals from slipping out of position had to be removed so they were not in the way when the I-beams were turned.

Now there was nothing in place to keep the I-beams from shifting over time or slipping out of position.

Once the I-beams were turned, they added more I-beam support b at each end of the bridge as Stone had ordered.

However, to do this, even more modifications had to b The flanges at the ends of the I had to be chipped away in order to fit next to the vertical tensioning rods.

Another very unorthodox fix.

Actually, Charles Collins was no by suggesting the diagonal I-beams could be strengthened by rotating them in a vertical orientation.

As Collins observed, an I-beam i in the vertical orientation when it's subject to bending loa However, these diagonal truss el were subject primarily to compression and not bending.

A slender member in compression fails by buckling.

Thus rotating the diagonal eleme in the Ashtabula trusses, did not strengthen them, it only changed the direction in which buckling would've occur (bright music) Finally, when the false work was removed for a third time, the bridge remains stable.

For the final test, four heavy steam engines were sent across the bridge as a proof load, showing once and for all that the bridge had static stren After three long years of construction problems, the Ashtabula Bridge was finally In July of 1866, the bridge was placed into service.

Despite its construction imperfe the bridge would hold for 11 yea which some could argue was a testament to the bridge's despite its unorthodox construction problems.

However, locomotive engineers that used the bridge on a daily or weekly basis reported how they always hated crossing the bridge because of the popping and cracking noises it made.

Some felt it was just a matter o before it came crashing down.

But after so many years of faithful service, it was simply accepted as part of the bridge's character and worries slowly dissipated.

(thoughtful music) Although Charles Collins showed little interest in the br he was ultimately left responsib for its maintenance and care.

Collins was placed in a very difficult situation since he knew little about the all-iron bridge, A conscientious and sensitive ma the grief over the upcoming tragedy overwhelmed him, but would he take his own life or would someone else?

(thoughtful music) (train whistle blowing) (train chugging) The train that was headed towards the Ashtabula Bridge that fateful night in December o was the luxurious train No.

5, The Pacific Express.

Not all trains were alike.

This particular train was the top of the line.

All who rode her did so in unprecedented comfort and luxury Called the crack by the railroad because of its opulence, The Pacific Express was truly the Titanic of the rails.

Her journey began in Buffalo, Ne and was to end in Chicago.

She followed the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway li westbound towards Ashtabula.

- The Ashtabula Bridge collapse was a national disaster in the s that it happened to America's first big business, the railroad industry.

Big business was a brand new phe No one had ever had to deal with it before.

This was a time of amazing expan for transportation in America.

At that time, the railroad impacted almost every aspect of the American public, from setting national prices to providing employment to a vast number of people.

It also allowed for the movement in a way that had never happened Railroads were absolutely libera because they allowed for cheap and efficient transportation of people and goods over large areas of the country.

However, the US railroad barons of the mid to late 19th century loomed over the nation's economy Unfettered by rules, unrestraine by lawmakers and judges, the small handful of railroad owners and executives could do virtually whatever they hence the term robber barons.

Ashtabula was going to become gr for some of the first seeds plan of the coming Populist movement.

People were fed up with the lack of government intervention and with the perceived lack of c of the railroad barons with issues of safety.

When the Ashtabula Bridge collap Amasa Stone would find himself t of this public outrage.

- With all the railroad expansio and little regulatory oversight, accidents increased significantl Bridges were reported to be coll at a rate as high as 25 per year fostering major public concerns.

Also, about 200 railroad workers were killed each year and thousands injured.

Sensationalist newspaper reports made it seem like trains were hurtling off tracks at an alarming rate, colliding with other trains, burning passengers alive.

Some saw trains like wild beasts thundering through the countryside, killing livestock, smashing wagons at crossings, destroying freight and killing p Nevertheless, boilers did explod and cinder set fire to houses, crops, and bridges.

The bridge collapse in Ashtabula was a crucial moment that fueled in the relationship between big government and the public.

Every movement needs a rallying and the Ashtabula Bridge collaps was one of those moments.

- [Narrator] On the day of the bridge disaster, December 29th, 1876, the weather only added to the da A severe winter storm had a firm on the entire line along the Lake Erie shore, hampering travel and delaying ro Even though it was a rough day t many brave the weather to return from visiting relatives over the Christmas holidays or to spend New Year's Eve with For others like Philip Paul Bliss, duty called.

The famous and beloved hymn writer and singer was on his way to Chicago to meet the famous evangelist, Dwight L. Moody.

- Philip Paul Bliss was an American composer, conductor, writer of hymns and a bass-baritone singing evangelist of the time.

In less than five years, he wrote 300 hymns with over three fourths of them with biblical words in music that were inspired by the sermon he heard from D. L. Moody and D. W. Whittle.

He wrote many well-known hymns including the music for Horatio G. Spafford's hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul" It is still one of the best known and beloved of all hymns.

The sad irony was that he and hi should have never been on that t Due to a delay caused by a train breakdown, they missed their connection, which forced them to take The Pacific Express the next day.

Bliss had an enduring influence on the hymns and Gospel songs that have shaped the spiritual l and personal devotions of millio His music was especially influen in fulfilling the spiritual need of a wounded nation after the Ci The nation grieved his loss and thousands attended the various memorial services in his honor.

In Chicago, at the church of Dwight L. Moody, over 8,000 people gathered for his memorial service.

- [Narrator] Although Bliss's voice and creative mind were silenced that night, his songs are forever being sung even today in churches throughout the world.

Another passenger on board The Pacific Express was Miss Marian Shepard, of Ripon, Wisconsin.

A young woman traveling alone, she was hailed by a fellow passe as one of the bravest women he e Credited with unusual bravery in the face of danger, she risked her life to help othe Also on board the train was Mary Roxana Birchard, first cousin to President Elect of the United States, Rutherford She was en route to Fremont, Ohi to collect the $5,000 inheritance left by her uncle, Sardis Birchard, a wealthy banke (pensive music) (train whistle blows) When the train arrived in Erie, Pennsylvania, the weather was much worse, and a second engine, the 32 ton was added to pull the heavy trai through the snow-covered tracks.

(train chugging) (tense music) At 3:00 PM, the train pulled out of the Erie, Pennsylvania statio The weather was now very serious and The Pacific Express was fighting against a severe lake effect blizzard.

The Pacific Express No.

5 was now being pulled by what the railroad called a double-header.

Taking the lead was the Socrates steam engine, followed by the Columbia.

They were pulling 11 cars total, two express cars, two baggage cars, two day passenger coaches, a smoking car, a drawing room car named Yokohama, a New York sleeper named Palatin and the Boston sleeper named City of Buffalo and the Louisville sleeper named (intense music) - [Narrator 2] "The passengers were grouped about the car in twos, fours, and even larger Some were lunching, some were ch and quite a number were playing Marion Shepard, passenger.

(train chugging) (train horn honking) (ominous music) - Sir, excuse me.

I am really worried about this storm outside.

Now, we barely made it out of the last station and all these rail wrecks we've been hearing about- - Sir, you don't have to worry about a thing.

The Pacific Express No.

5 is top of the line.

Yes, we've been delayed by the w but we'll be arriving in Ashtabu - Okay, thank you, sir.

- [Narrator] It's not surprising that many survivors report that at this point, the trip began to take on an omi (pensive music) John Manning, manager of the Telegraph Office at the Ashtabula train depot, had been waiting for the arrival of The Pacific E since she was late, two and a half hours late.

His assistant and friend, Charle America's first African American telegraph operator, had just arrived, ready to begin the night shift.

- [John] Yes, it is.

Oh, by the way, the No.

5's runn - Charles Leek is an interesting and impressive character.

He was hired by John Manning at the age of 19 to be a telegraph messenger boy.

He was inquisitive in nature and he was always asking about the telegraph machine, so Manning decided to train him in telegraph operations.

- Okay, Charles, I'm gonna start you off with the alphabet.

I'm gonna do the first two and then I'm going to have you repeat after me.

All right, so an A is gonna be a and then a long like this, (telegraph clacking) and then the B is gonna be a lon followed by three shorts like th (telegraph clacking) You have a try.

(soft music) (telegraph clacking) - Charles was so bright that he learned telegraphy in fi a Lake Shore and Michigan Southe He quickly went from messenger boy to become America's first African American telegraph It's interesting to note that northeast Ohio had been the center of abolitionist activity, and this created a climate for B to have more opportunities than their southern counterparts.

- [Narrator] Having been at the station all day handling delays and schedule cha Manning considered heading home but changed his mind at the last Manning's decision to stay at the depot that night was almost prophetic.

In fact, he and Charles Leek would remain faithfully at their for the next 50 hours.

At 6:52 PM, Leek received a tele stating that train No.

5, The Pacific Express had just passed the LS&MS Depot in Conneaut, Ohio, a town only 15 miles east of the depot in Ashtabula.

The No.

5 would arrive in Ashtab On the night of the disaster, Ashtabula was a white wasteland of snow and ice.

The blizzard hammered the town with more than 20 inches of snow and winds that ripped along with gusts of up to 54 miles per (train chugging) (tense music) The lead engine, Socrates, was driven by engineer, Dan McGu The second engine, the Columbia, was being driven by Gustavus D. who was called Paps by his frien Both engines had firemen keeping their boilers stoked and an eye on the gauges.

After the long and arduous journ the No.

5 began her slow crawl across the bridge.

(tense music) At first, the crossing proceeded the bridge popped and creaked as but held as the Socrates, the Co and then the first few cars push onto the west side of the bridge (tense music) (train chugging) (ominous music) When the Socrates was almost at the end of the bridge, the unthinkable happened.

(train chugging) (ominous music) (bridge snapping) - Dear Lord, I think the bridge is collapsing.

Oh, my gosh!

(train clattering) (passengers shouting) Were going down!

(ominous music) (drivers shouting indistinctly) (passengers screaming) (train thudding) (crashing sounds) (people murmuring) - [Charles] I think I heard some - That didn't sound right.

I'm gonna go check it out.

- [Charles] Okay.

(ominous music) (tense music) - [Narrator] The only part of th to survive the disaster was the Socrates steam engine and her tender.

With great presence of mind, Dan McGuire opened the throttle and drove his engine forward to His engine made it to the abutment just in time before the Columbia steam engine and all the other cars fell or were pulled into the gorge.

The closest person and witness to the accident was John Manning's 16-year-old brother, James Manning, who was the engineer of the wate for the railroad in Ashtabula.

He was on his way back to the pu after leaving the depot to turn on the water pump, which filled the water tower used for the steam engines.

Interestingly, at the age of eight years old, James Manning lost both of his legs just above the knees, trying to jump on a moving train during a childhood dare.

When he was older, he made his own set of wooden legs so he could work and support him (intense music) - Manning, the bridge just fell into the river.

- [James] Let's go see.

(intense music) (intense music continues) - Hey, we gotta signal the depot We need help!

(ominous music) (ominous music continues) (frenzied music) - [Narrator] Dan McGuire, wanting to alert the station, which was only about 100 yards down the track, jumps back into his engine and begins blowing the whistle.

(train whistle blowing) (frenzied music) - The train's fallen in the rive Someone, please help!

(train whistle blowing) Help!

Help!

Help!

(frenzied music) (people murmuring) - The bridge is out.

The No.

5's down.

(people murmuring) (people chattering indistinctly) (frenzied music) - [Narrator] Charles Leek sent an emergency flash message, 17, 17, 17 to all stations and to headquarters in Cleveland that the bridge at Ashtabula had and The Pacific Express has been wrecked in the chasm below.

Leek's telegraph stopped all trains coming through Ashtabula and will begin the effort for a disaster response and additional help from Clevela Other workers and passengers in the depot jump into action, throwing wood in the stoves and grabbing lanterns and stretchers to mount a rescue.

70 feet down in the chasm below was the wreck of The Pacific Exp The Columbia steam engine smashed in on its side was showing signs of life.

- (groaning) Oh, my leg.

I gotta get outta here.

- [Narrator] Remarkably, the engineer, Gustavus D. Folsom, had survived but had a severely broken leg.

His fireman, Peter Levenbroe, was also still alive, but was mortally injured and would die early the next mor en route to Cleveland, Ohio, for medical care on the relief train.

(intense music) - [Gustavus] Soon as my engine turned over, I dragged myself out.

Everything was quiet except the moaning of the wind and it was dark.

I hollered four times and received no answer.

Everything was still and quiet.

I then pulled myself up to the a (passengers moaning and crying) - [Passenger] What happened?

Help!

- [Narrator] The silence would not last long.

Within minutes, cries and moans of the wounded began springing up from pockets of mangled cars and twisted bridge.

For many, death had come quickly but for those who were still ali survival was still a possibility Many who had escaped the wreck did so in the first few precious before any rescuers arrived.

(tense music) Daniel McGuire and James Manning were joined by Tim Sullivan, who heard the crash from the fre where he was working and came to - Come on, man, we gotta save as many as possible.

(tense music) - [Narrator] The quickest way to get to the victims was by the pumphouse staircase, which led to the pumphouse by th and the floor of the gorge.

While survivors were emerging from the wreck, others from the waiting room at which was only a hundred yards away, would begin to arrive.

At 7:35, Henry Apthorp, division superintendent of telegraph repairs, arrived on along with two men from the depot who had a stretcher.

Henry Apthorp and his wife lived near the gorge and heard the crash when it happ He was one of the first people from town to arrive.

(pensive music) - [James] The bridge has collaps You've been in an accident.

- Oh, my God.

We've gotta get these people out You men with the stretcher, come - Help coming.

- We need to bring, we need to bring them up to the (passenger moaning) Two of you may come with me.

We're gonna see who else may nee Come on.

(tense music) (passengers shouting indistinctl - [Narrator] Even though Henry Apthorp was overwhelmed when he first arrived, he would risk his life to save o even assuming an unspoken leader - Over here, over here.

You two.

(passengers moaning and speaking indistinctly) (tense music) - [Narrator] At 7:40 PM the alar at the Lake Erie Volunteer Fire Company sounded the alarm.

(tense music) (bell ringing) On a night when it was dangerous just to be outside, the citizens of Ashtabula respon as quickly as they could.

Michael Tinley, the saloon keeper of the Eagle Hotel and foreman of the hand fire pump Lake Erie was one of the first responders.

The hand fire pump under his lea was only 600 yards from the wrec Tinley, however, made no effort to get his pumper ready because he claimed there was too and no help from bystanders.

His fire pumper would sit idle during the entire crisis.

The first flicker of flames started on the east side of the within minutes of the crash.

Overturned hot stoves used to heat the passenger cars mixed with spilled oil from the passenger car oil lamps, and ignited the splintered wood.

These small fires would quickly from one end of the wreck to the as it was fanned by the high blizzard winds.

(pensive music) Citizen rescuers from town strained against the blizzard strength winds, trudging through the high drifts as they attempted to reach the w Sadly, some became so fatigued they simply couldn't continue.

Others, however, forged on in spite of exhaustion, getting through at all costs.

(wind whooshing) (pensive music) Albert Strong is a veteran of the railroad industry and the station agent of the LS&MS Railroad in Ashtabula.

He is the highest ranking railroad official to arrive on the scene.

He has brought a few strong men and they are horrified at what t - Let's go down there and save as many as we can.

(tense music) (passengers screaming) - [Narrator] Now the fire had completely engulfed the wreck and the efforts to save people, before they were consumed by the became more frantic.

(tense music) (passengers screaming) - [Passenger] Help.

Over here.

(passengers clamoring) (tense music continues) - Over here, over here.

You two, get them up there.

- Apthorp, how can we help?

- Get the wounded to the pump ho - Let's go.

(passengers clamoring) (tense music) - [Narrator] With the fire raging all around them, the rescue was focused on saving as many lives as they Not much could be done about the until the firemen arrived.

The young Marion Shepard somehow managed to escape injury and bravely pulled herself from the wreckage and began rescuing passengers, risking her own life.

- We'll get you two out.

(tense music) (passenger groaning) (Marion straining) (passenger groaning) (tense music) (beams thudding) (tense music continues) - [Narrator] Ashtabula had three fire pumpers able to respond to the crash, two of which did.

The next to arrive was the fire steamer, Neptune, led by his foreman, E.A.

Hitchco (passengers screaming) - This way.

Hurry!

Hurry!

(tense music) - [Passenger] Get down here.

Over here.

(firemen clamoring) (tense music) - [Passenger] Hurry, please!

(tense music continues) (passengers screaming) - [Narrator] The next person to arrive on the scene was the Ashtabula Fire Chief, Galen A. Knapp.

Having never faced an emergency of this magnitude, Knapp appeared dazed and confuse Some believe he may have been dr at the Good Fellows Club, a popular hangout, when the alarm bell sounded.

(passengers moaning) Fire Chief Knapp and Henry Aptho met halfway on the staircase, Knapp asked where he should throw the water, however, Apthorp told Chief Knapp not to throw water, but to have him and his men try to save as many people as po The firemen anxiously waited for while the citizens were yelling to start throwing water on the f but without an order, the men re - The fire department in Ashtabula at the time was more like a gentleman's club as were many volunteer fire departments across the country.

It's not that the firefighters d or didn't want to do a good job, but the idea of professionalism in terms of training, safety and expertise, were still in its infancy in America.

(crowd clamoring) - Chief, my men are ready to start throwing water.

- No, no water.

Mr. Apthorp just told me, don't worry about throwing water on the fire, just go rescue and help people.

- [Fireman] Come on.

(crowd clamoring) - They are refusing to put water on the fire.

- We'll grab a bucket, we'll fight it ourselves.

(tense music) (crowd clamoring) - [Narrator] Frustrated over the fire chief's refusal to order water be thrown on the and possibly the need to feel like they were doing something that could help, citizens and some firefighters who broke rank, chopped a hole in the river's ice to form a bucket brigade and began throwing water on the in a futile attempt to save people and property.

But the blaze was too massive to The heat was so intense, people could not even get close to throw water effectively without getting burned.

One person described it was like standing at the gate Then suddenly as if the prayers of the rescuers had been answere the storm suddenly subsided.

- America's small cities and tow were still at the crossroads of developing full-time professional firefighter units.

Even though Ashtabula had a volunteer fire company of over 128 men, a number of hand fire pumpers and even a horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engine, they were in no way even close to being prepared to deal with a disaster like thi And truth be told, there was the difficulty of the wreck's location, the extreme weather conditions, the magnitude of this disaster, and plus the fact that the fire had fully engulfed the wreck by the time that they'd even arr It would've been a challenge for even modern day departments of well trained and fully equipped firefighters.

They were really in an impossible, overwhelming, and a no-win situation.

- Help, help.

Don't leave me here.

Don't leave me.

(tense music) - [Narrator] While the bucket brigade was working hard, Marion Shepard was still rescuin from the burning wreckage, and leading the efforts to help the severely wounded to the pumphouse, which was near the wreck site.

The pumphouse had a large coal-driven steam engine inside, so it was the warmest and closes place to take the wounded.

But the pumphouse quickly became overcrowded and Dr. King, one of the city's who came to help in the rescue e knew they had to move the people - Mr. Apthorp, we're running out of room at the pumphouse.

We need to get these people out so that I can provide adequate medical treatment.

- Okay, Dr. King, I'll get some and we'll move them to town.

(fire snapping) (solemn music) (pensive music) - [Narrator] The passengers who and could be recovered from the were laid along the banks of the Ashtabula River and left until morning.

Life and death was determined by the train car they rode.

(pensive music) There were 170 souls on board The Pacific Express.

Of the 97 who died, 50 were unre because they were essentially incinerated in the blaze.

(pensive music) Trapped and burned in the wrecka were the bodies of Philip and Lu along with the body of Mary Roxana Birchard.

They were among the 50 unrecogni (dramatic music) Unbelievably, danger came disguised as would be rescuers.

- Hey, boy.

Are you alright?

- I'm hurt a little, but my dad's in bad shape.

- Oh, don't worry, boy, we'll help you out.

- (laughing) Oh, yes, we will.

(intense music) - Hey, Mister, please don't.

- Shut up, kid, don't make me ki (intense music) - There was a shanty town located not far from the disaster site in Ashtabula.

It was made up of immigrants who'd come from all over, looking for jobs at the port of The jobs were few, and at this time, of course, it was winter and they did not have much at all.

They had built makeshift homes and tents even in the side of the hills and on unused land, but their existence was very dif At that time, a dock worker only earned about $8 a month, which certainly was not very muc When news spreads to the shanty that a luxury train had gone down in the gorge, remember, not far from them, they looked at this as an opportunity to better their live The way they thought about it was the dead no longer needed these things, but it could certainly benefit their lives.

In spite of the thieves, the rescue operation was successfully ongoing.

The wounded were being brought up from the gorge, and they were being taken to homes and businesses.

- Well, at the time of this disa Ashtabula was a booming railroad and port city off the coast of Lake Erie.

However, residents relied on their local family physician when they became ill. All they had were individual doc who had private offices or who made house calls.

The train disaster was truly an eye opener to the community that it needed a hospital.

- Over here, over here.

You two- - [Narrator] In the middle of th at a local schoolhouse, the mayor of Ashtabula, Harmon P took charge and called a special With no hospital in town, there was no place to take the i To his credit, the mayor set in a citywide emergency response pl to coordinate which homes and bu could take victims, within the c - Now, when these surgeons come we need to know where to direct - [Resident] Okay, Mr. Mayor.

- [Narrator] After returning from briefly helping with the rescue efforts, John Manning and Charles Leek remained at their post and in constant contact with railroad officials, both east and west of Ashtabula.

On the night of the disaster, the message made its way to the bridge's designer and now ex-president of the railroad, Amasa Stone, who had resigned from his duties for health reasons in June of 18 When he got the message, despair quickly gave way to disb - Impossible.

(tense music) (tense music continues) (tense music continues) (tense music continues) - [Narrator] While Stone was in over the collapse of his bridge, telegraph messages were flying back and forth over the wires.

It didn't take long for the Cleveland office to begin preparations to assist.

Railroad officials gathered in the telegraph office by the entrance of the Cleveland, Ohio Union Station, desperate to hear any updates from the wreck site.

Leek's messages from Ashtabula were clear and concise, with great detail of what was ha and the help they needed.

Outside of the Cleveland Union S a special train was ready to bring medical supplies, surgeons, and a number of railroad officials from Cleveland to Ashtabula.

Back in Ashtabula, the fire equipment had been sitting idle for hours, so the decision was eventually m for the Neptune steamer and protection hand-pump to return to the station house.

The supervisors were worried the unused equipment would freeze and become damaged, plus, it seemed useless to fight that had already claimed everything and everybody in it.

Tired and defeated, the men went (pensive music) By midnight, the wreck was aband One express man was sent to guard valuables in a strong box, and the dad who had not been picked over by thieves.

The fire had dwindled, but was still burning in spots.

Nothing more could be done for t Now it was time to care for the (pensive music) (door creaking) At approximately 2:00 AM, Charle several railroad officials and five surgeons arrived on the special train from Cleveland, Ohio.

As soon as Charles Collins got off the train, he went to see the wreck site fo - It's not hard to imagine the thoughts that must have been spinning around in Charles Collins' head when he arrived on that special The news of the bridge collapse in Ashtabula must have been gut wrenching for especially since he was ultimate responsible for its safety.

(pensive music) - [Narrator] As soon as possible the doctors from Cleveland got to work, helping as many victims as they could.

- It would be a long night for Dr. Freeman Case, Dr. E. L. King, and the surgeons who came to Ashtabula on the relief train to assist th Many of the injured had horrific but Ashtabula didn't have a hospital at this time, so the gracious citizens of Asht opened their homes and businesses to these poor people and treated them the best they could and with what they had until a doctor could come and look at them.

Unfortunately, more would die before proper medical help could Since the visiting surgeons were not familiar with Ashtabula or had any idea where the victims were taken, they had to be escorted from place to place.

To his credit, Mayor Hepburn helped coordinate much of this effort.

- [Narrator] Due to the nature of the accident, there were broken bones, impalem horrible dislocations, severe cu and two pregnant women who were forced into premature labor.

Amputations had to be performed on makeshift operating tables, made using unhinged doors from hotel rooms and tables.

After hours of surgeries and treating victims all over town, everyone was exhausted.

Finally, the darkest night in Ashtabula history was over.

But for many families, the nightmare had just begun, as they now had to try to figure out how to carry on without their loved ones.

As dawn broke the next morning, Fred Blakeslee, a local photographer and volunteer firefighter who had fought the blaze the nig arrived at the scene.

In the light of the day, he could finally see the shocking mass of devastation, and was the first to capture images of the wreck.

- These pictures proved to be po and created a national sensation In a very real way, these images made this a bigger disaster, not that it wasn't big in its ow with the loss of life, but it's one thing to hear or read about a disaster, but when you see it, the impact is much more emotional.

During the Civil War, when people attended traveling photography displays depicting the war, they said it was like the bodies were piled up right in front of them.

Today we see pictures all the ti but for people experiencing the power of photography, these images were relatively new vivid representations of reality and that was extremely powerful.

- Not only could people see the disaster in the photo, but they could do so in a more d and realistic stereo 3D.

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. stereo viewers were quite the sensation of the - [Narrator] Old glass slide pho of the Ashtabula disaster were found on eBay by Chuck Burn These photos have been hidden from the public for years until now.

These iconic pictures were taken by famous photographer Jeremiah who came from Cleveland, Ohio, to photograph the wreck.

They give us a real sense of the magnitude of the destruct and what the citizens of Ashtabula had to deal with.

By 8:00 AM, workers from the LS& began cleaning up the wreck of The Pacific Express.

It was a sad and difficult task as the iron rods, splintered woo and burned and broken bodies were fused together from the fir or frozen solid in the icy river As the workmen labored with their grim cleanup, they also managed to salvage the valuable wrought iron I-beam made in Andros Stone's factory.

The remains of the dead were taken to a primitive morgue set up by the freight house across the tracks from the passenger depot.

As the dead were being removed, a wave of grief spread throughout the city.

Relatives who could make the tri began to converge on Ashtabula, hoping to find a missing family - Excuse me, excuse me.

- Excuse me, our son was on a train that crashed.

Do you know where we could find any information about it?

- You gotta go talk to the station manager.

- Thank you.

- [Narrator] At the same time, newspaper reporters were coming in from various citi to cover the story for themselve (people chattering indistinctly) - The irony of all this is that the national exposure of the disaster was held by the railroad industr News could spread very quickly across the continent as people travel, magazines like "Harper's Weekly" could be delivered via train.

If this collapse had happened in it'd have taken several weeks for the news to spread.

So there is little doubt that this disaster would've stayed a local or regio but what used to take weeks for news to spread now took minutes or seconds with the telegraph.

So the telegraph, newspapers, photographers, mass producing their works and t spread the news to a national audience very quickly, which in turn rallied public sup for change and regulation.

- [Narrator] As railroad workers were cleaning up the wreck, grieving and upset citizens were demanding answers, so a special meeting was called at City Hall.

They wanted to know why the fire was not put out to save more souls?

How were they going to care for all these wounded people in their homes and businesses?

And who was responsible for this that struck their fine city?

- Quiet, quiet, please.

Quiet, everyone.

Quiet, please.

Quiet.

We're about to begin this meetin Citizens of Ashtabula, I know there's a great concern about the tragedy that has struck our city, but we're here today to begin addressing those concerns.

- Good, sir, we will like to kno how this bridge gave way and who is responsible?

- [Crowd] Yeah!

(crowd clamoring) - Yes, I have two people in my h that are horribly injured.

- I wanna know why firemen didn't even attempt to throw water on the fire?

(crowd clamoring) - Wait a cotton picking minute.

I was told by Mr. Apthorp not to throw water on the fire.

(crowd clamoring) Oh, yeah.

Oh, oh, yeah.

- Order, order!

Order in this court.

Order!

- [Edward] Quiet down.

Quiet down.

- Order.

Order.

- Quiet.

We need quiet in this court so we can proceed with this meet - Gentlemen, gentlemen, our town our town is in chaos.

We have an almost overwhelming t in dealing with the dead and the Pray, what caused this catastrop - [Crowd] Yeah.

(crowd clamoring) (tense music) - Gentlemen, raise your right ha By raising your hand, you do swear by Almighty God that you will faithfully investi - [Narrator] By noon that day, a coroner's jury was sworn in under the acting coroner, Judge Edward W. Richards.

Their job was to coordinate efforts to identify the dead, notify families, and to certify in one formal proclamation, the cause of death for all the v The chairman of the jury was Henry L. Morrison, a prominent businessman and community leader, who owned the largest retail store in the county.

He also was elected mayor a number of times and served as city councilman for five terms.

- Citizens of Ashtabula, I want to assure you that this g of distinguished men and communi is dedicated to finding the cause of death and injury to the poor souls that were on board The Pacific Express.

We ask for your patience as this investigation will now p over the next few months.

(crowd clamoring) - [Narrator] Due to the public o the newly formed coroner's jury also made the decision to take on an even greater task, a thorough and exhaustive invest of all aspects of this disaster in order to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

- Suggested that we turn the braces the other way around.

- Coroner's juries were mechanisms that existed for the general public to challenge authority.

This was a way for the people to address very real safety issues and concerns that affected the public as a wh So when Ashtabula convened a jury of citizens, they were reflecting what was happening on a national level.

The public was very uneasy with all of these new innovations and technology, with no one holding those in authority accountable when they failed.

- [Narrator] A few days after the disaster, those passengers who survived and were able to travel, continued their journey courtesy of the LS&MS Railroad C Marion Shepard, a heroine, according to many witnesses, set off for her hometown in Ripon, Wisconsin.

She would forever be remembered by the citizens of Ashtabula as the good angel because she helped so many people and did it with surprising ease and compassion.

- Extra, extra read all about it Ashtabula train disaster, extra, extra, read about it.

- On Friday, January 5th, 1877, the local paper, the "Ashtabula Telegraph," published its first story about this tragedy.

It was simply called "The Disast - [John] And with tax- - [Narrator] Telegraph operators were also tapping out a endless stream of messages to newspapers across the country from reporters that were in town Charles Leek took the lead while John Manning supplied relief and other help.

In the days following the disast the depot was a blur of activity Telegraph operations alone collected over $700 in telegraph fees from reporters victims, relatives, and townspeo all desperate to send or receive the latest news.

This was a huge amount of money for this time, and Charles Leek was in charge of most of it.

Little did he know his faithfulness to his duties were about to change his life.

The Ashtabula disaster captivated the entire nation, including the President Elect of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes.

When President Elect Hayes received the news about his cousin's death in Asht he was still serving as the gove for the state of Ohio in Columbu At the time of the accident, his election was being contested His cousin's horrible death shook him to his core as he marked the occasion with a poignant letter in his di - [Narrator 3] "Our cousin, Mary of Fayetteville, Vermont, was lost in the fearful railroad in Ashtabula Friday evening.

We have learned none of the particulars as to her fate beyond the general facts of the catastrophe.

The accident was one of the most that has ever occurred on any railroad in Ohio and has rarely been equaled in the number of victims and other circumstances of horror anywhere.

Oh, poor dear, Mary.

She was a kindhearted, lovable w When I last met her Ohio Day at Philadelphia, she was one of the happiest in that great throng of people."

Rutherford B. Hayes, President E - [Narrator] Upset over the loss of life in Ashtabula and the loss of his dear cousin, Hayes requested the Ohio Senate launch an investigation.

In New York City, Cornelius Vand was shocked to hear about the di on the railroad he purchased just seven years earlier.

Already in poor health and confined to his room for months from exhaustion, the news of this disaster would be the final nail in his c He would die six days after the on January 4th, 1877, at the age Back in Ashtabula, Ohio, not all victims were easily iden The grim task of identifying victims and notifying relatives was difficult due to a variety o - Identifying the dead was a gruesome and difficult task.

Some people were burned or crushed beyond recognition.

In some cases, all that was left was an arm, a leg, or charred bo To complicate the task even furt was the fact that there wasn't any passenger list.

John Ducro and others meticulously inventoried any recovered property.

Then they used this inventory, with hundreds of letters and tel began pouring into town from all over the United States.

In them were descriptions of lov and what they were wearing.

In many cases, the only way to identify a victim was matching their details in th with the inventoried items.

- [Narrator] On Friday, January 12th, 1877, the Ohio Legislature appointed a joint committee of the General Assembly to investigate the Ashtabula Bridge disaster.

They worked in conjunction with the American Society of Civil Engineers.

- Three separate investigations were called to investigate the Ashtabula disaster.

Why?

Culture plays a big part in how accidents are perceived, because depending on when an accident occurs, it may or may not get noticed or have an impact.

Good example of this is what hap with the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland in 1969.

The Cuyahoga River caught fire at least 12 times, but only in 1969 did it have an impact and lead to reform.

The 1969 incident wasn't even the worst fire.

There were actually two other in that were much worse, but received little notice.

This is where the national culture has influence.

The 1969 incident happened durin when there was already a growing environmental movement and people were challenging auth So the Ashtabula accident, one of thousands of railroad acc spurred these three investigatio local, state, and national, because it happened during a time in America when we were in the beginnings of political, economic, and cultural movements, challenging authority questioning big business and demanding action regarding all the unaddressed safety issues, bridge collapses and train disas - [Narrator] One person who felt a unique sense of grief over the disaster was Charles Co He was a very good and sensitive who took great pride in his work and reputation.

The wreck of The Pacific Express shook him to his core.

In fact, he was so shaken that o January 15th, 1877, he handed in his resignation.

- Sir, I'm turning in my letter of resignation.

- What?

- [Charles] I have worked for 30 with what fidelity, God knows, for the protection and safety of the public, and now the public, forgetting all these years of service, has turned against me, therefore I tender my resignation.

- Mr. Collins, you're a good man I can't accept this.

We need you more than ever now.

- [Narrator] His resignation was not accepted.

In fact, Charles Paine did what to reassure Collins, but nothing he said would consol On the morning of January 17th, the Ohio Legislative Committee c at the Kennard House in Clevelan and was ready to call their firs - We will now call our first witness, Mr. Amasa Stone.

- Gentlemen, I'm Mr. Stone's personal physician.

I regret to inform you that Mr. Stone is too delicate o and cannot attend these proceedi (people murmuring) - [Narrator] Determined to get a the legislative committee met Stone at his home on Millionaires' row on Euclid A which was also in Cleveland, Ohi not far from the Kennard House H (soft music) - Mr. Stone, our committee needs the detailed drawings and plans of the bridge for our investigation.

Can you tell us where they are?

- I honestly don't know.

You'll have to ask our engineer, Mr. Charles Collins.

We keep those plans in our engineer's office and I assume that's where they a - [Narrator] When asked about construction details, Stone stated the only error that during construction was a few beams were put in horizontally that should have gone in vertica and some lugs may have been chip so the correction could be made.

It was not until he was pressed by the committee that he admitted the I-beams were also chipped.

In an attempt to save face about his arguments with Joseph Stone stated Tomlinson was ineff and discharged him from his duti and replaced him with A.L.

Roger While the three investigations were being conducted, the citizens of Ashtabula forged in spite of the heavy grief, constant scrutiny of the press, and investigators asking questio The wounded strangers who were placed unexpectedly into the homes of citizens, quickly became honored guests.

They stayed for months until relatives could arrive to help them back home, or they were well enough to travel on their own.

On January 18th, 1877, just 20 days after the disaster, a replacement wooden Howe truss bridge was completed, an astonishing feat and an indic of how important rail travel had to northeast Ohio's economy.

On Friday, January 19th, 1877, the day after the new bridge reo a grieving town held two different memorial services for the unrecognized or unclaime The first was held at the Method and the second was held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

The remains of the 50 passengers who were burned so completely, only ashes or body parts were le were placed in 19 coffins at the front of the church.

Everyone in the city, including railroad officials and relatives, assembled for the service.

The service was led by Episcopal Church pastor, the Reverend Dr. James Moore.

Several other area churches and pastors took part as well.

As a special tribute to Philip B the choir sang two of his hymns, "We're Going Home Tomorrow" and "There is Light in the Valle ♪ Through the valley of the shadow I must go ♪ ♪ Where the cold ♪ A beautiful spot at the top of a in Chestnut Grove Cemetery was picked as the final resting for the remains of the 50 unrecognizable souls.

The entire memorial service showed the heart of Ashtabula.

With sincere compassion, the entire city turned out to mourn deeply for virtual stra Little did they know they would soon mourn again, but this time for one of their o After the disaster, Charles Collins spent a great deal of time in Ashtabula with his wife and his in-laws.

Ashtabula had always been a place of safe retreat for him.

However, he returned to Clevelan when he was called to testify before the Ohio Legislative Comm - [Henry] Mr. Collins, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

- I do.

- Mr. Collins, can you tell us where the plans for the bridge are located?

We need to copy them for our investigation.

- Gentlemen, I never saw the pla nor do I know where they are.

- [Narrator] To this day, the final construction drawings for the Ashtabula Bridge have never been found.

Collins also stated that he had placed Mr. G.M.

Reed of inspecting the bridge, but it was not done on any sched nor was any formal report ever m or anything reported wrong with during its 11 years of service.

- Mr. Collins, do you have any last statements you would like to make?

- Yes.

In my opinion, this bridge was experimental.

(ominous music) (ominous music continues) (ominous music continues) - [Narrator] That evening, after testifying to the legislative committee, Collins went back to his home in to pack for a trip his assistant, Mr. I.C.

Brewer, had planned.

It was a trip with colleagues to visit other bridges on the LS (ominous music) (ominous music continues) (ominous music continues) (gun fires) (ominous music continues) Within hours after testifying, Charles Collins was dead.

Did Collins kill himself as some have suggested, or was he murdered and the crime scene staged to look like a suicide?

Local newspapers had stated Charles Collins committed suicid based on the investigation by Cleveland Police Detective, Henry M. Holzworth.

However, some friends and family strongly doubted the findings because the evidence in the room did not match the story of the s Collins's body looked staged and the wound in the back of the was not consistent with a suicid One year later, Collins' skull w and independently examined by two separate well respected New York surgeons, Dr. Steven Smith and Dr. Frank H There separate and independent r stated, quote, "The facts in thi are utterly irreconcilable with the theory of suicide," and that Charles Collins was kil by a hand other than his own.

” Both doctors objected strongly to the theory of suicide based on the clear physical evid - We may never know exactly what happened to Charles Certainly, with so much anger over the disaster from families of the victims, someone may have killed him.

Others speculate the killer may have been someone from the r who feared additional testimony.

With the rise of anger and suspicion of authority, coupled with a lack of legitimat to challenge that authority, especially in a disaster of this magnitude, it wouldn't be surprising if someone took matters into their own hands.

We just can't say with any certa what happened to Mr. Collins.

(horse hooves plodding) (horse snorting) (pensive music) (pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) - [Narrator] Regardless of the m surrounding Collins' death, it was a shock to an already grieving community.

Ironically, the beloved engineer was laid to rest in the same cemetery as the victims of the horrible crash.

He was reinterred later that yea in a new mausoleum that his fami which today stands only yards from the obelisk honoring the unrecognized dead.

Although saddened by the tragic turn of events, all three investigations continued their task to discover the cause of the acc and the death of the 97 souls.

The American Society of Civil Engineers or ASCE was a fairly new organization called on to investigate or give on the complex technical and engineering issues surrounding this accident.

The American Society of Civil En was one of many new professional organizations being founded around this time.

This is a shift on how people began to view authority with the rise of these experts.

In fact, as a direct result of this disaster, a new occupation emerged in the field of engineering, the engineering consultant.

- Up until this period of time, there was no such thing as the noun, expert.

Previous to this, you could be expert in something, a verb, but it wasn't until this period that you have someone who is an People began to feel that with new technology we needed people who were expert who were trained, who had knowle They, of course, were the ones who were increasingly seen as sources of authority on technical matters rather than hack politicians.

- [Narrator] On February 21st, 1877, Charles MacDonald of the American Society of Civil Engineers, presented his findings in a repo entitled "The Failure of the Ashtabula Bridge."

Charles MacDonald was the engine who discovered the fatal flaw while combing through the wrecka In this report, the specific cause of the collapse was a large air hole that had been cast into the top chord angle block.

The hole resulted in a lug on the block breaking off, allowing portions of the top chord to slip out of position and begin the collapse.

- The load carrying capacity of Stone's bridge was entirely dependent on a unique aspect of the design, the use of angle block lugs to connect the top chord members to the other members of the trus Now, conventional iron trusses o almost universally used mechanical fasteners, such as pins or rivets to connect the members together and to transmit internal forces between the members.

But in Stone's design, the internal forces were transmi between the top chord I-beams and the remainder of the truss by these vertical lugs, which projected upward from the cast iron angle blocks.

Now, these lugs were cast as integral parts of the angle box, and because of this configuration, the top chord compressive forces were applied directly to the lug and then transmitted down into the angle blocks through a large shearing force at the base of each lug.

This high shearing force would contribute substantially to the collapse of the bridge, as would a substantial casting d a large air void that was introduced into the critical lug during the iron casting process.

Also, the I-beam elements of the were held together entirely by f a far less reliable way to connect structural members than using mechanical fasteners.

Because the steam locomotives of produced a uniquely punishing dynamic bounce as they crossed bridges, these I-beam elements were almost guaranteed to shift and loosen over time.

The collapse of the Ashtabula Br is initiated when one lug on the second angle block from the western end of the southern truss sheared off because the diagonal bracing was only connected at every other top chord joint.

This particular angle block was laterally embraced, so it now buckled violently outw and because the main trusses were held together almost entirely by friction, the buckling of the top chord caused the entire structure to come apart at the joints.

As a result, the Ashtabula Bridge toppled into the gorge like a house of cards.

(thoughtful music) - During the mid 19th century, the technology for casting large iron blocks or parts was very imperfect.

It was an inherently flawed syst Once casting was poured and cool it was virtually impossible to detect these air bubbles or large voids inside the part being manufacturing.

Engineers at the time, did not understand the concept of brittle fracture or the potential for cracks to grow over time, nor did they understand the complexities of metallurgy.

(thoughtful music) - [Narrator] On March 8th, 1877, the coroner's jury, which convened months earlier, rendered their verdict.

- It is the findings of this jur that the cause of death of the 9 on board Train 5, The Pacific Ex was from crushing and burning after the collapse of a bridge.

It is also our findings that Mr. Amasa Stone, the president of the LS&MS Railr is at fault for the collapse of the Ashtabula Bridge.

(crowd murmuring) It was in fact Mr. Stone who des and dictated the drawings for the all-iron bridge without the approval of any competent engineers.

He also did this against the pro of Mr. Joseph Tomlinson, who made the drawings under his This conclusion is also supporte by the testimony of Mr. A.L.

Rogers and Mr. Albert Congdon, who both testified that they built and erected the bridge based on Stone's drawings.

The bridge yet failed twice to bear its own weight.

Because of these failures, modifications had to be made.

However, these modifications wou make the bridge perilously unstable over time.

We also conclude that a careful by a competent iron bridge engin would have discovered all of these defects.

The blame and neglect for proper bridge inspections was the responsibility of the ra With this indictment, the blame rested squarely on Charles Collins' shoulders, the head engineer of the LS&MS R (thoughtful music) - To be sure, the Ashtabula disa was triggered by a set of circum for which Amasa Stone cannot legitimately be blamed.

An internal undetectable fabrication defect caused a single cast iron lug to by fatigue metallurgical phenome that no one fully understood at Yet Stone certainly was responsi for the bridge's razor thin margin of safety, it's ill-conceived structural co it's poorly designed bracing sys it's ad hoc modifications during construction, and it's resulting inability to survive the loss of a single These failures were all the more significant because successful examples of iron bridges designed by well trained enginee were available at the time Stone designed the Ashtabula Bri yet he chose to go his own way.

- [Narrator] On May 10th, 1877, the Ohio Legislative Committee filed its report with the same conclusions about the design, construction and erection of the However, they did add a few more that could have contributed to the bridge's failure.

- The first major issue was the dead weight of the struc While engineers concluded that it was possible to make a safe Howe truss bridge the added members during constru added significant extra load without verifying the design fir - There were some poor design de Chief among them was that the iron castings were detailed so that they had to carry tension and shear and cast iron is not good at holding those kinds of stress They're great at holding compres - [Narrator] And what about the The coroner's jury blamed the fi on the overturned stoves used to heat the passenger cars.

Disregarding safety standards an the LS&MS Railroad used conventional stoves instead of self-extinguishing on (tense music) (tense music continues) - That's the same as ours.

Ours is just as good.

We're gonna keep ours.

- Yes, sir.

- [Narrator] The jury charged the railroad company with failure to comply with the law of 1869 requiring self-extinguishing sto Thus, the fire was ultimately th - Even during a time when there was a movement demanding more government oversi about the safety issues in the railroad industry, there were many laws passed in t like the ones requiring self-extinguishing stoves.

Problem was that there was little compliance with these laws.

Stone decided he didn't want to use those stoves 'cause he felt they were no better or safer than what they had, so he didn't Laws may have been on the books, but they were often not enforced Again, it becomes clear why people were questioning auth and calling for more enforcement of the law, especially since public safety was at stake.

- [Narrator] The lack of effort to fight the fire was the focus of intense discuss Although many believe the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad company didn't wanna put out the fire, these rumors proved to be false.

According to the jury, some responsibility for not putting out the fire rested on those who were first on the scene.

- Get them up there.

- [Narrator] However, it's difficult to blame the first citizen responders who chose to answer the dazed and injured passengers pleas for help, over battling a fast moving fire they had no means to fight.

Unfortunately, part of the problem with the fire was the weather.

The blizzard prevented many citi including the Protection and Neptune fire pumpers from getting to the scene before the fire already claimed its victims.

And once they got there, confusion, the enormity of the d indecisiveness and a lack of com were a fatal combination that ni Maybe we'll never know precisely why more wasn't done to fight the fire, but what we d is that no one, including the fire chief or firemen, were prepared to handle an accident of this magnitude and under the conditions in which it occurred.

In any case, Fire Chief Galen Kn was fired by the coroner's jury for not taking charge of the sce and putting the fire out.

- Mr. Galen Knapp, through the decision of the counsel, due to the tragic situation and the ineptitude that you show in lacking to try to put the fir the counsel's decided to terminate your employment at this time.

- [Narrator] Telegraph operator, Charles Leek, was very upset with the coroner's jury verdict and wrote a lengthy letter to the editor of the paper, strongly disagreeing with their Another troubling aspect of this tragedy were the robbers.

Some men whose hearts were dark came crawling outta the woods and stole from the innocent and hurting survivors.

Others saw their opportunity in the midst of the chaos and took expensive items that were scattered throughout the twisted iron and broken bodies.

After word of the pillaging got back to Mayor Hepburn, he called for the people to voluntarily return items.

Many complied.

(bright music) - Gentlemen, we appreciate your - [Narrator] However, several pe including a railroad official, were arrested when they were cau with items from the wreck.

There were many, many heroes that dreadful night, but the type of thievery that wa would cast a long, dark shadow over Ashtabula for years to come This disaster would also cast a dark shadow over the life and career of Amas the last casualty of this disast - I never shirked responsibility At the time we erected the bridg we were making the road very per and put up what we thought there, a very perfect bridge.

We designed this to be a first-class bridge.

For that bridge to have gone dow the train had to derail or a mighty wind blew through the valley and took it down.

It was a solid bridge, proven by the 11 years it stood.

(bold music) (gavel thudding) - Mr. Stone, you have not been d (gavel thudding) Mr. Stone!

- [Narrator] Stone never felt that he was responsible for the collapse and claimed he was being railroaded and made the scapegoat.

Despite stubborn denials of wron in any part of the design and co of the Ashtabula Bridge, all three investigations held him responsible for its col However, his power and wealth in the laws of the day kept Stone from ever being prose But he never could escape public - After this disaster, Stone was and avoided by old acquaintances and business associates, becoming somewhat of an outcast.

Perhaps to rebuild his reputatio or perhaps because of religious motivation, Stone threw himself into philanthropic work.

He built and endowed a Home for Aged Protestant Gentlewomen in Cleveland, Ohio.

less than a year after the disaster.

In 1881, Stone made his largest $500,000 to Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio, with the provision that it moved to Cleveland and name its men's college Adelb in memory of his son who died while attempting to swim across the Connecticut River during a geology trip with his Yale professors in 1865.

Today we are in Amasa Stone Chap on the case Western Reserve University Campus.

This chapel was built in honor of Amasa Stone.

It was built by members of his f and it is a site where many ceremonies take place on the university.

Outside of the chapel, there's a very interesting sculp It's a bust of Amasa Stone that at one time was actually in the railroad sta that was built on Cleveland's la It honors his contributions to t So everything we are doing at this site here today really has resonance with the ma whose story is being told in this documentary.

- [Narrator] Regardless of his philanthropic work, Stone must have felt that he was forever linked to the Ashtabula Horror.

- On the night of the disaster, Charles Leek proved his value to the railroad.

During his time with the railroa he never made a single mistake or cost the railroad any money.

With that impressive record, when John Manning was transferre to be the head railroad agent of Ashtabula Harbor, Charles Leek was promoted to head of telegraph operations at Ashtabula depot.

He even had several white men working under him, which was unheard of at that tim No African American had ever reached such a height of employment in the railroads.

He even taught his son and two other Black men telegraph operations, all of who had lengthy careers with the railroad.

In 1886, at the age of 36, he married a white woman named I and had three children with her.

This would've been a scandal and a prison sentence in many parts of the country, but not in the Western Reserve o where support of the abolition m had left residents with a more o about racial integration.

Leek was a truly remarkable man pushing the cultural and racial barriers of his time.

- [Narrator] Charles Leek retire from his telegraph duties at 189 and took over the depot restaura that was once operated by his fa Unfortunately, while going home with his wife after a long day of work at the restaurant, Charles Leek suffers a massive heart attack and dies in the road at the young age of 51.

He too is buried in the Chestnut Grove Cemetery just yards away from Charles Col and the grave of the unrecognize The magnitude of the Ashtabula train disaster that once shocked the entire nat is still shocking even today.

Although this disaster left many it also ushered in an era of reform and healing.

- After the Ashtabula disaster, public outcry ushered in a season of change.

Immediately large iron castings became suspect and were eliminated wherever pos Eventually, engineers began to consider metal fatigue and brittle fractures as designed considerations.

As a direct result of this disas the profession of engineering consultant was born.

Engineers came to recognize the of solid engineering ethics, con and testing when designing bridg After the Ashtabula disaster, an era of remarkable innovation in metal bridge design came to an abrupt halt.

Bridge designs all across Americ settled into the tried and true and became much more standardize In 1877, engineers drafted general specifications for railroad bridges in an attempt to bring better standards of safety to railway bridges.

- [Narrator] As a direct result of this disaster, the Ohio General Assembly drafted new laws for bridge insp The following year, encouraged by the federal govern bridge engineers developed and c new standards for bridge buildin that led to the establishment of national bridge building specifications.

Many railroads and states immediately began inspecting their own bridges to avoid any other collapses.

In New York alone, inspectors fo out of 2,500 bridges to be fault The public outcry over the condi of the railroad industry epitomized by the Ashtabula disa had finally been heard.

- The coroner's jury gave the lo a voice in what happened, but they also mirrored what began to happen on a larger scale in the nation.

For example, due to the lack of and professionalism in the fire department, Ashtabula reformed their departm from essentially a gentleman's c to a professional organization that held regular training and d In turn, there was a national mo in towns and cities across the n to create professionally trained fire departments that you could say were greatly by the Ashtabula disaster and other large city fires.

- [Narrator] On a local level, after the train disaster, the city of Ashtabula realized a huge need for a hospital.

Hattie A. Sherman formed the Ladies Railroad Auxiliary in 1882, to care for patients in a temporary hospital.

A decade later, the newly formed Ladies Hospital League took up the banner to establish a proper hospital.

In 1902, the Ashtabula General Hospital Association was organized and the hospital opened its doors on June 30th, 1904.

Today the hospital stands just up the river from the site of the disaster.

In fact, you can see it from the hospital's helipad.

(bright music) To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the disaster, the citizens of Ashtabula and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad erected a granite obelisk monume in Chestnut Grove Cemetery in memory of the unrecognized de marking the location where 19 coffins were buried.

Amasa Stone was a complex man who lived in an era of enormous He was loved and adored by his wife and children, and was considered very generous with them.

In the business world, his religious beliefs in the sanctity of work drove him to be successful.

He was also a friend to President Abraham Lincoln and an advisor on how to move supplies and troops with the railroad during the Civ He was also a pall bearer at Lincoln's funeral when it stopped in Cleveland, Oh - So what he's best remembered f notoriously remembered for, is the Ashtabula train disaster, which, you know, certainly he made mistakes in building that bridge.

But it's a little unfortunate, it's more than a little unfortun that that's what he's most remem because probably nobody between and when he committed suicide in nobody did more for the development of Cleveland than he did.

His suicide is very, very sad.

His health was broken.

He had eczema of the skin.

For years, he had had severe ins He could not sleep because he is always making busi or fixing some engineering problem in his sleep.

And so he has severe ulcers.

He's crippled by a carriage acci His health deteriorates.

So it wasn't just the memory of the bridge, and of course that was very defeating to him, but it was these deteriorating health problems.

(intense music) - [Narrator] Stone was also shak by several financial failures.

So finally, one day after feeling unusually bad and not being able to sleep for Stone locked himself in the bath and took the only way out he kne (intense music) (gun fires) (solemn music) (knocking on door) - Mr. Stone, are you okay?

- Amasa, Amasa.

- I thought I heard a gunshot.

(Julia speaking indistinctly) Mr. Stone, are you okay?

- Break the door down.

(pensive music) - Mr. Stone!

- Amasa, no.

- [Narrator] Having attempted suicide once before in 1879, on May 10th, 1883, he finally succeeded in taking his own life.

Amasa Stone was buried at the Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

However, out of fear that no one would come to his funeral, a prediction by one of his conte the family decided to have a small graveside service.

His wife, Julia Stone, would visit and attend to his gr until her death on July 21st, 19 (pensive music) In memory of Amasa Stone, his family financed a major stained glass memorial window, emphasizing his philanthropy at the old Stone Church on Cleveland's public square.

This was the church Stone and his family attended almost every Sunday, and the church he took the lead on rebuilding after a devastating fire destroy Amasa Stone was a controversial that was either loved or hated, but no one could deny his many accomplishments or the legacy he left behind.

- Ashtabula forced our nation to look at safety issues because of the public outcry brought about by the national co This was not just one more railroad accident of bridge failure.

It was portent of the coming populous movement.

People were demanding government regarding the railroads.

Changes were made, laws were passed because of Asht - [Narrator] If you're ever in t you can still visit the site of the disaster by walking a memorial trail, which starts at Indian Trails Pa not far from the Ashtabula Medic Today, a very different bridge carries trains across the river to where the depot once stood.

A visitor would never know this was the scene of a horrific With the passing of each generat the impact of this disaster has Yet the sound of a train whistle still stirs memories of that cold blustery night on December 29th, 1876.

(train chugging) (pensive music) (pensive music fading) (bright music) ♪ Well, half past seven on a stormy winter night ♪ ♪ A blizzard was blowing down ♪ ♪ Off the shores of old Lake Eri ♪ Left two feet of snow on the g ♪ Train No.5 was late out of Eri ♪ On the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern line ♪ ♪ Two steam engines and eleven r ♪ Was trying to make up time ♪ ♪ But the snow ♪ ♪ Snow ♪ ♪ The wind and the dark ♪ ♪ All conspired in spite ♪ ♪ It's man's feeble plans and his faulty designs ♪ ♪ In Ashtabula that night ♪