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Star Beacon
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016

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Ashtabula, Ohio | www.starbeacon.com 

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Train disaster echoes

140 years later
Bridge collapse ended,
altered many lives;
hurt citys growth
EDITORS NOTE: Today makes the 140th anniversary of the 1876
Ashtabula Train Disaster. In recognition of the event, this week
the Star Beacon is looking at the past and present of the railroad
in Ashtabula County.
BY DAVE DELUCA
ddeluca@starbeacon.com

WARREN DILLAWAY | STAR BEACON

David Tobias points out photos in a book on trains during an interview earlier this month. Tobias has done a lot
of research on the Ashtabula Train Disaster, which took place Dec. 29 1876.

Ashtabula man mines and saves

the pieces of history
BY WARREN DILLAWAY
warren@starbeacon.com

ASHTABULA Dave
Tobias has mined
the Ashtabula Train
Disaster site for almost
five decades in fact
pieces of history have
been saved from the
Ashtabula River bed
through the efforts of
four generations of the
Tobias family.
On Dec. 29, 1876, a
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
train was heading

through Ashtabula
when a train bridge
over the Ashtabula
River gave way near
the present site of the
Ashtabula County Medical Center.
Dozens were killed
and many injured with
the city stretching its
resources to care for
the survivors and bury
the dead.
The train disaster
was a horrific sight as
train cars, people and
SEE HISTORY, A3

WARREN DILLAWAY | STAR BEACON

David Tobias displays a portion of the train destroyed

during the Ashtabula Train Disaster on Dec. 29, 1876.
He found the item during one of his many trips to the
disaster scene over the last 50 years.

Ashtabula City Council

approves budget
BY SHELLEY TERRY
sterry@starbeacon.com

ASHTABULA City
Council unanimously
passed the final version of the proposed
2017 city budget at
a special meeting

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Wednesday morning at
the Municipal Building.
Council received
copies of the budget
earlier this month and
suggested no additional revisions at Wednesdays meeting.
Finance Director
The Star Beacon office
will close Dec. 30 at
noon and reopen
Jan. 3 in observance of
the holiday.
Customer service lines
will be available at
440-994-3242
on Sat. 6 a.m.-noon
and Sun. & Mon.
7 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

ASHTABULA It was
the worst train disaster
of the 19th century
and one of the worst in
American history.
It has also been called
the Titanic of the 19th
Century because of
the opulent splendor
afforded passengers
on the train and the
sheer loss of life in the
accident.
Filmmaker and documentarian Len Brown,
of Beacon Productions
of Canton, has been
trying to get financial
backing to produce a
documentary about
the Ashtabula Train
Disaster for five years
now. Brown is one of
the leading authorities
on the disaster and his
website, engineeringtragedy.com, is a resource for information
on the accident.
Its an amazing
story, Brown said. Its
remarkable that this
mostly untold story of
the Ashtabula Train Disaster could have such
a profound impact on
American history.
On Dec. 29, 1876, the
Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroads
Pacific Express left Buffalo for Cleveland,ultimately on its way to
Chicago,in a blinding
snowstorm. The Pacific

Express was one of the

railroad lines most successful and luxurious
trains, consisting of two
express cars, two baggage cars, one smoking
car, three coaches and
three sleeping cars.

The engineer
of the lead
locomotive
heard one loud
crack, then
another as the
engine lurched
forward and the
iron truss bridge
fell apart.
Len Brown

Filmmaker and documentarian of

Beacon Productions of Canton

There were elegant appointments everywhere

on the train and oil
lamps were lit in most
of the cars, Brown said.
At about 7:30 p.m.
the train approached
Ashtabula.Because of
the raging blizzard, the
train had not run at
over 20 miles per hour
for many miles and
was at just 10 miles
per hour as it came to
Ashtabula.
Ashtabula had become a major railroad
SEE DISASTER, A3

Misener appointed
City Council president

Dana Pinkert said the

budget is similar to
2016 but the projected
carry over $126,000
is less compared to
the 2016 carry over of
about $240,000.
SEE ASHTABULA, A3

phine Misener the new

president of Ashtabula
City Council.
Precinct committee
member Nancy Kister
nominated Misener,
and committee member Celeste Corbissero
seconded the nomina-

BY SHELLEY TERRY
sterry@starbeacon.com

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP It took local

Republicans about 15
minutes Wednesday
night to name Ward 4
Council member Jose-

DEATHS
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BYLER, Elmer J.
CARR, Frank F.
CIANELLI, Robert H.

EASTON, Ella M.
NOVOTNY, Rudolph A.
ROCCO, Ruth E.
URCH, Duane E. Sr.

Obituary deadline for

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will be 4 p.m. Saturday

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SEE APPOINTED, A5

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tion. Misener garnered

unanimous approval
from the nine
committee
members who attended the meeting at
the Ashtabula County

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