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The 1887 Great Chatsworth train wreck was a major rail accident that occurred late on the night of August 10, 1887, east of the town of Chatsworth, Illinois, in the United States. A Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad (TP&W) train bound for Niagara Falls from Peoria crossed over a trestle, weakened earlier in the day by a fire, causing it to collapse. Between 81 and 85 people were killed, and between 169 and 372 injured.[1]
Crash The summer of 1887 had been hot and dry. Fearing that sparks from the steam engines of the trains could ignite brush fires, the TP&W company began performing controlled burns to prevent an uncontrollable brush fire. On the day of the accident, TP&W crews performed a controlled burn near the site of the accident it is suspected that failure to extinguish the fire resulted in charring of the bridge.[2] That evening, a TP&W train departed Peoria, traveling east through Eureka and Chenoa. Two steam engines pulled six fully loaded wooden passenger cars, six sleeper cars, and three luggage cars. In total, the train carried about 700 vacationers taking advantage of a special offer to visit Niagara Falls.[3] Just before the accident site, the coach accelerated down a slope, reaching . The first engine successfully crossed the weakened bridge as it collapsed; the second engine crashed into the side of the hill, while each following passenger car telescoped into the next. Sleeper cars attached to the rear of the train halted just short of the bridge.[2] Four days later, the TP&W gathered together the remaining wreckage and set it on fire. The crash resulted in the increased use of steel in passenger cars.[2] Historical marker Historical marker erected by the state of Illinois in 1954 to commemorate the Chatsworth wreck. In 1954, the state of Illinois placed a historical marker commemorating the event along U.S. Route 24. The marker has the following text: References External links
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