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The
Chatsworth Wreck - Midnight, August 10–11, 1887 - One half mile north on the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad occurred one of the worst wrecks in American rail history. An excursion train - two engines and approximately twenty wooden coaches - from Peoria to Niagara Falls, struck a burning
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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.
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That day, a TP&W train carried vacationers taking advantage of a special offer to visit
Niagara Falls. It had picked up passengers all along the TP&W line as far back as Iowa, and left
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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.
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around 8 p.m.: Two steam engines pulled six fully-loaded wooden passenger cars, six sleeper cars, and three luggage cars. It travelled east through
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328:"Over One Hundred Dead; And Four Times As Many Wounded. A CROWDED EXCURSION TRAIN CRASHES THROUGH A BURNING BRIDGE-PERHAPS THE WORK OF THIEVES"
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The summer of 1887 had been hot and dry. Fearing that sparks from the steam engines of the trains could ignite
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was a major rail accident that occurred late on the night of August 10, 1887, 3 miles (5 km) east of
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Historical marker erected by the state of
Illinois in 1954 to commemorate the Chatsworth wreck.
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into the next. Sleeper cars attached to the rear of the train halted just short of the bridge.
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The disaster immediately made national news, including almost half of the front page of
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culvert. Of the 500 passengers about 85 perished and scores were injured.
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Accidents and incidents involving Toledo, Peoria and
Western Railroad
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411:"The Great Chatsworth Train Wreck" at Chatsworth Illinois Memories
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For the 2008 train collision in Los
Angeles, California, see
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370:"1887 train wreck near Chatsworth one of worst in U.S."
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868:FIU Sweetwater UniversityCity pedestrian bridge
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743:Hyatt Regency walkway in Kansas City, Missouri
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948:Bridge disasters caused by maintenance error
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958:Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois
611:Rail bridge near Huntington, West Virginia
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405:Chatsworth Train Accident; August 10, 1887
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826:I-40 bridge near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma
605:Rail bridge in Atlantic City, New Jersey
284:In 1954, the state of Illinois placed a
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232:, the TP&W company began performing
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797:Lowe's Motor Speedway pedestrian bridge
599:Rail bridge near Eden Station, Colorado
549:Rail bridge near Chester, Massachusetts
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302:Erected by the state of Illinois, 1954.
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856:I-5 bridge in Mount Vernon, Washington
647:Rail bridge near Meadow Acres, Wyoming
543:Rail bridge in Orange County, Virginia
501:Rail bridge near Meridian, Mississippi
918:Bridge disasters in the United States
677:Rail bridge in Woodbridge, New Jersey
537:Rail bridge near Chatsworth, Illinois
495:Rail bridge near St. Joseph, Missouri
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617:Saint Croix–Vanceboro Railway Bridge
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933:1887 disasters in the United States
477:Rail bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut
379:. Bloomington, Illinois. p. B3
196:Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad
138:Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad
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16:1887 railroad accident in Illinois
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713:Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge
587:Rail bridge in Danville, Virginia
507:Rail bridge near Angola, New York
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418:"The Illinois Railroad Accident"
943:Bridge disasters caused by fire
767:Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge
689:Rail bridge in Meldrim, Georgia
561:Enfield–Suffield Covered Bridge
21:2008 Chatsworth train collision
416:Harper's Weekly (1887-08-20).
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886:I-95 overpass in Philadelphia
426:– via Catskill Archive.
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407:at PeoriaCountyIllinois.info
184:Great Chatsworth train wreck
29:Great Chatsworth train wreck
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953:Livingston County, Illinois
844:Bartonsville Covered Bridge
838:I-35W bridge in Minneapolis
198:(TP&W) train bound for
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719:West Spokane Street Bridge
224:impression of the accident
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963:Railway accidents in 1887
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56:Approximately 11:55 p.m.
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773:Claiborne Avenue Bridge
683:CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge
862:I-85 bridge in Atlanta
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737:Sunshine Skyway Bridge
671:Chesapeake City Bridge
623:Division Street Bridge
326:Unknown (1887-08-12).
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40:Wreck on the day after
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108:40.75500°N 88.25778°W
707:Sidney Lanier Bridge
629:Summer Street Bridge
464:in the United States
188:Chatsworth, Illinois
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641:Allen Street Bridge
483:Clark Street Bridge
113:40.75500; -88.25778
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65:Chatsworth Township
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874:Fern Hollow Bridge
390:Access World News.
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635:Greenfield Bridge
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519:Ashtabula Bridge
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462:Bridge disasters
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813:21st century
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513:Dixon Bridge
470:19th century
421:. Retrieved
386:– via
381:. Retrieved
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338:. Retrieved
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803:Hoan Bridge
230:brush fires
111: /
87:Coordinates
912:Categories
423:2006-11-21
383:2008-05-12
340:2008-05-13
308:References
254:telescoped
160:Statistics
147:Derailment
99:88°15′28″W
96:40°45′18″N
77:Piper City
73:Chatsworth
71:, between
190:, in the
388:NewsBank
300:—
288:, along
176:81 or 85
134:Operator
61:Location
204:trestle
124:Country
46:Details
894:(2024)
888:(2023)
882:(2022)
876:(2022)
870:(2018)
864:(2017)
858:(2013)
852:(2012)
846:(2011)
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509:(1867)
503:(1863)
497:(1861)
491:(1855)
485:(1853)
479:(1853)
250:Chenoa
246:Eureka
173:Deaths
165:Trains
331:(PDF)
210:Crash
194:. A
152:Cause
248:and
182:The
75:and
51:Date
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349:^
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316:^
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218:A
79:,
67:,
454:e
447:t
440:v
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168:1
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