1878 — Jan 15, Conn. Western train falls into river when bridge fails, Tariffville, CT —     13

Last edit on 10-27-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5^th printing). 1959, p. 282.[1]

–17  Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (pre-1950).”

–14  Staunton Spectator, VA. “Terrible R.R. Accident – Fourteen Killed…” 1-22-1878, p. 4.[2]

–13  Adams, Charles Francis, Jr. Notes on Railroad Accidents. 1879, p. 107.

–13  Boston Post. “The Tariffville Disaster…The Number of Dead only Thirteen…” 1-18-1878, p. 2.

–13  Malley. “Tragedy at Tariffville: The Railroad Wreck of 1978.” CT Public Radio. 1-10-2014.

–13  ConnecticutHistory.org. “The Tariffville Disaster – Today in History: January 15.”

–13  Eureka Daily Sentinel, NV “Night Dispatches. The Great Railroad Accident.” 1-19-1887, 2.

–13  Krajewski. Bridge Inspection and Interferometry. 2006, p. 11.

–13  Owens, David. “13 Died In 1878 Train Wreck.” Hartford Courant, CT. 8-9-2003.

–13  Willsey and Lewis. “Memorable Railroad Accidents,” Harper’s Book of Facts. 1895, p674.

Narrative Information

Adams, Charles Francis, Jr.  Notes on Railroad Accidents. 1879, pp. 106-110:

“…the Tariffville disaster…happened on the evening of January 15, 1878. A large party of excursionists were re­turning from a Moody and Sankey revival meeting on a special train, consisting of two locomotives and ten cars. Half a mile west of Tariffville the railroad crosses the Farmington river. The bridge at this point was a wooden Howe truss, with two spans of 163 feet each. It had been in use about seven years and, originally of ample strength and good construction, there is no evi­dence that its strength had since been unduly im­paired by neglect or exposure. It should, there­fore, have sufficed to bear twice the strain to which it was now subjected. Exactly as at Ashtabula, however, the west span of the bridge gave way under the train just as the leading locomotives passed onto the trestle-work beyond it: the ice broke under the falling wreck, and the second loco­motive with four cars were precipitated into the river. The remaining cars were stopped by the rear end of the third car, resting as it did on the centre pier of the bridge, and did not leave the rails. The fall to the surface of the ice was about ten feet. There was no fire to add to the horrors in this case, but thirteen persons were crushed to death or drowned, and thirty-three others injured.”

“Naturally the popular inference was at once drawn that this was a mere repetition of the Ashtabula experience,—that the fearful earlier les­son had been thrown away on a corporation either unwilling or not caring to learn. The newspapers far and wide resounded with ill-considered de­nunciation, and the demand was loud for legislation of the crudest conceivable character, especially a law prohibiting the passage over any bridge of two locomotives attached to one passenger train.

“The fact, however, seems to be that, except in its super­ficial details, the Tariffville disaster had no features in common with that at Ashtabula; as nearly as can be ascertained it was due neither to the weakness nor to the overloading of the bridge. Though the evidence subsequently given is not absolutely conclusive on this point, the probabilities would seem to be that, while on the bridge, the second locomotive was derailed in some unexplained way and consequently fell on the stringers which yielded under the sudden blow. The popular impression, therefore, as to the bearing which the first of these two strikingly similar accidents had upon the last tended only to bring about results worse than useless. The bridge fell, not under the steady weight of two locomotives, but under the sudden shock incident to the derailment of one. The remedy, therefore, lay in the direction of so planking or otherwise guarding the floors of similar bridges that in case of derailment the locomotives or cars should not fall on the stringers or greatly diverge from the rails so as to endanger the trusses. On the other hand the suggestion of a law prohibiting the passage over bridges of more than one locomotive with any passenger train, while in itself little better than a legal recognition of bad bridge building, also served to divert public attention from the true lesson of the disaster.

“Another newspaper precaution, very favorably considered at the time, was the putting of one locomotive, where two had to be used, at the rear end of the train as a pusher, instead of both in front. This expedient might indeed obviate one cause of danger, but it would do so only by substi­tuting for it another which has been the fruitful source of some of the worst railroad disasters on record.” (Adams, Charles Francis, Jr. Notes on Railroad Accidents. 1879, pp. 106-110.) 

Holbrook: “It was chance rather than an archaic method of operation [Revere disaster] that brought New England its next bad railroad disaster, a wreck that sorely tried the faith of many devout Yankee Christians. This was because the wreck occurred to an excursion train that was returning to their homes in Connecticut towns more than a thousand earnest pilgrims who had been to hear the great Dwight L. Moody and his songster, Ira D. Sankey, perform at Hartford….The night of January 14, 1878, had seen a wonderful feast of Gospel….

“The great meeting did not break up until almost 11 o’clock. Waiting at the Hartford terminal was a double-header, ten-car special of the Connecticut Western Railroad….About half-past eleven the heavy train reached the Tariffville bridge that spanned the Farmington River. It wasn’t a new bridge, and Conductor Elmore, if nobody else, had thought it rather shaky when the special had crossed it that afternoon on the way to Hartford. Shakey it must have been, for the two locomotives had little more than arrived on the span before it started to give way, at first a slow and sickening collapse, followed an instant later by a tremendous crash. Both locomotives went down onto and through the ice of the river, dragging four of the coaches after them. Seventeen died, forty-three were sent to hospitals.

“Evident at the investigation indicated that on the bridge was a long stretch of rail with no ties beneath it, thus causing the rail to sag and derail the leading locomotive, which crashed into one of the bridge supports and caused the bridge to give way. Evidence also indicated that the railroad had been more than careful in having the tracks patrolled by section crews that day, and that the crews had found all ties in place. Many years afterward John F. Jones, superintendent of the Western Connecticut, related that the ties on the bridge had surely been tampered with and insisted that three separate investigations right after the tragedy had come to that conclusion. Mr. Jones added that the wreck on the Tariffville bridge had resulted in new laws in most states providing that railroads should ‘bolt guard rails to the ends of ties to prevent them from crawling or being displaced.’” (Holbrook, S. H. The Story of American Railroads (5^th printing). 1959, pp. 282-283.)

Krajewski: “The Tariffville, Connecticut collapse occurred on January 15, 1878 when a special train carrying the attendees of a gospel revival meeting home collapsed into the Farmington River killing 13 and injuring 70. The Western Connecticut Railroad Company, owner of the bridge, was able to retrieve and repair the locomotives, and quickly rebuilt the bridge to the same design. However, the cost of repairing the locomotives and rebuilding the bridge coupled with public apprehension of the rail line, forced the company into bankruptcy on April, 1880.” (Krajewski.  Bridge Inspection and Interferometry.  2006, p. 11)

Wikipedia: “January 14, 1878 – Tariffville, Connecticut, United States: A double-headed ten-car Connecticut Western Railroad special train of the faithful, returning from a revival held in Hartford, crosses the Tariffville Bridge over the Farmington River near midnight, and the structure collapses. Both locomotives and the first four cars plunge into the ice-covered river, killing seventeen and injuring 43.” (Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (pre-1950).”)

Newspapers

Jan 16: “Hartford, Ct., Jan. 16. – A most horrible accident happened on the Connecticut Western Railroad about half a mile west of Tariffville, twelve miles from this city, last night to an excursion train composed of eight crowded cars and two engines…They left here at 9:20, p.m. While crossing the bridge which spans the Farmington River at Tariffville, the bridge gave way….at 12:45 o’clock a relief train left for the scene of the accident….[the names of eleven fatalities are noted].” (Middletown Daily Press, NY. “Shocking R.R. Accident. An Excursion Train Falls Thro’ a Bridge…11 Dead Bodies Recovered.” 1-16-1878, p. 2.)

Jan 17: “New York, Jan 17. – Special dispatches to the Herald and Times say the disaster to the train at Tariffville, Conn., was caused by the rottenness of the bridge….The number of dead is thirteen. The wounded who have been reported are forty-six….No bodies were discovered in the wreck to-day….” (Boston Post. “The Tariffville Disaster…The Number of Dead only Thirteen…” 1-18-1878, p. 2.)

Jan 18: “Hartford, Jan. 18. Work at the wreck of the Connecticut Western train, at Tariffville, continues….One can lies in the river still, and several bodies are supposed to be in it….George P. Hatch, one of the engineers, died this morning. Several of the dead show cuts and bruises, but most of them were drowned, or were suffocated by steam, caused by the heaters in the cars….

“…no inquiries has been made for people missing. It is thought that such inquiries would be made if any were still in the wreck, as the passengers were generally parties from different towns, and all were in company with friends or acquaintances.” (Eureka Daily Sentinel, NV “Night Dispatches. The Great Railroad Accident. Further Particulars of the Catastrophe. Thirteen Killed and Forty-six Wounded.” 1-19-1887, p. 2.)

Jan 19: “Hartford, January 19. – No more bodies have been recovered at Tariffville and none are reported missing in any towns along the line from whence the excursionists came…” (Evening Mirror, Altoona. PA. “Railway Accident.” 1-21-1887, p.1.)

Sources

Adams, Charles Francis, Jr.  Notes on Railroad Accidents.  New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1879, 300 pages. Accessed at: http://www.archive.org/details/notesonrailroada00adamrich

Boston Post. “The Tariffville Disaster…The Number of Dead only Thirteen…” 1-18-1878, p. 2. Accessed 10-26-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-jan-18-1878-p-2/

ConnecticutHistory.org. “The Tariffville Disaster – Today in History: January 15.” 1-14-2020. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://connecticuthistory.org/the-tariffville-disaster-today-in-history/

Eureka Daily Sentinel, NV “Night Dispatches. The Great Railroad Accident. Further Particulars of the Catastrophe. Thirteen Killed and Forty-six Wounded.” 1-19-1887, p. 2. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/eureka-daily-sentinel-jan-19-1878-p-2/

Evening Mirror, Altoona. PA. “Railway Accident.” 1-21-1887, p.1. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-mirror-jan-21-1878-p-1/

Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5^th printing).  New York: Crown Publishers, 1959.

Krajewski, Joseph E. Bridge Inspection and Interferometry. Master of Science Thesis, Civil Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, May 2006, 120 pages. Accessed 11-12-2016 at: http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-050406-092613/unrestricted/JKrajewski-Thesis.pdf

Malley, Richard C. “Tragedy at Tariffville: The Railroad Wreck of 1978.” Connecticut Public Radio. 1-10-2014. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://www.ctpublic.org/arts-and-culture/2014-01-10/tragedy-at-tariffville-the-railroad-wreck-of-1878

Middletown Daily Press, NY. “Shocking R.R. Accident. An Excursion Train Falls Thro’ a Bridge…11 Dead Bodies Recovered.” 1-16-1878, p. 2. Accessed 10-26-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middletown-daily-press-jan-16-1878-p-2/

Owens, David. “13 Died In 1878 Train Wreck.” Hartford Courant, CT. 8-9-2003. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://www.courant.com/2003/08/09/13-died-in-1878-train-wreck/

Staunton Spectator, VA. “Terrible R.R. Accident – Fourteen Killed…” 1-22-1878, p. 4. Accessed 10-27-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/staunton-spectator-jan-22-1878-p-4/

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents

Willsey, Joseph H. (Compiler), Charlton T. Lewis (Editor). Harper’s Book of Facts: A Classified History of the World.  New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1895. Accessed 9-4-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UcwGAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

[1] We do not know where the number of 17 lives lost noted by Holbrook and Wikipedia come from, but we find no substantiation elsewhere and thus choose not to use this number in our subject line.

[2] Appears to be an early report which was picked up and printed days afterwards.