Great Train Wreck of 1856

1856 railroad accident in Pennsylvania

The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill station (known as Sandy Run, Camp Hill, Sellwick and finally Fellwick station before being closed in 1996) and Fort Washington station, on July 17, 1856. Two trains, traveling on the same track in converging directions, collided, killing between 59 and 67, and injuring over 100. The incident was referred to as The Camp Hill Disaster in Montgomery County, and The Picnic Train Tragedy in Philadelphia. It was the deadliest railroad catastrophe in the world up to that time and became one of the signature events of its era.

Growing impetus for the construction of a railroad connecting Philadelphia with the Lehigh Valley resulted in the incorporation on April 8, 1852, of the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad Company. A spur of the railroad, whose name was changed on April 18, 1853, to the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was formally opened Monday, July 2, 1855, with an excursion from Cohoquinoque station, at Front and Willow Streets in Philadelphia, to Wissahickon (present day Ambler), an outlying area to the northwest. Farmers could now ship their produce more economically to markets increasingly far from home. The railroad, which transported both freight and people, was already becoming an important component of local commerce when the wreck occurred.

An excursion train operated by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, known as the "Picnic Special," had been contracted by St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia's Kensington section to send their Sunday School children on a picnic in Shaeff's Woods, a sprawling grove near the railroad's Wissahickon (present day Ambler) station. July 17 was one of the hottest days of the year and the children looked forward to a full day at the park. The train, reported as carrying 1,100 people by The New York Times (although there may have been as many as 1,500), was due to arrive in Wissahickon at 6 a. m. It left Cohocksink depot at Master Street and Germantown Avenue at 5:10 a. m., 23 minutes late, partly due to the large number of passengers aboard. The train's locomotive was called Shakamaxon (in honor of Kensington's Native American name ) and was operated by engineer Henry Harris under conductor Edward F. Hoppel. waited for the excursion to pass on the single track line that had opened one year and 15 days earlier. Shakamaxon was late, but the conductor did not use the telegraph to communicate with Cohoquinoque and had no idea when the excursion had left. There was a customary 15 minute waiting period for regularly scheduled trains, but the picnic special was an excursion train, which confused matters. At 6:15, the Aramingo, carrying 20 passengers from Gwynedd, pulled out of the station. The conductor of Shakamaxon was confident he could make up for the time he had lost. He knew the Aramingo was due in the opposite direction on the same single track, but estimated they could use the siding at Edge Hill to safely pass each other. As he neared a blind curve just past Camp Hill Station, the train was travelling slightly downhill. Aramingo was rounding the same curve with the same blind spot. Harris blew the whistle almost continuously, but this apparently kept him from hearing the other train's whistle;

Meanwhile, the tragic news reached the city and spread through the parish. Men rushed from the factories, women ran sobbing through the streets. At Cohocksink station, they had to be restrained by police when they attempted to use the hand cars. Coaches were attached to an idle locomotive at the station, but they were given over almost entirely to Sisters of Charity, nurses, and physicians. The Daily Evening Bulletin reported: "the most horrible sight of all was that of the burning cars; in a few minutes after the collision, the fire spread rapidly through the broken remnants, burning and roasting to death many men, women and children. The groans and shouts of wounded and those held by the rescuers were of a character to appall the bravest heart." Henry Harris, engineer of the picnic special, died in the accident as did Father Sheridan. The devastation was so extreme that many bodies were never found, and those that were so burned that they could not be identified.

The conductor of the Aramingo, William Vanstavoren, who escaped uninjured, apparently felt he was to blame for the accident. He returned to Philadelphia, officially reported the accident, and then went to his residence at 169 Buttonwood St. (near 10th St.) and committed suicide by arsenic. However, he was later absolved of any blame by the coroner's jury, which blamed the accident on the "gross carelessness" of Alfred Hoppel, the conductor of the Shackamaxon picnic special. Hoppel was then tried for manslaughter, but acquitted; Vanstavoren's suicide was cited in evidence. Two days after the accident, the Pennsylvania Inquirer said, "The most eager interest is still shown in all that relates to the awful tragedy of Thursday." The North Pennsylvania Railroad took steps after the accident to provide financial benefits for the injured and for survivors of the victims. They issued shares of stock to those who would accept it and gave money to those who would not. As it turned out, the shares eventually paid worthwhile dividends. The railroad closed down operations on the following Sunday to honor the victims. Two days after the Great Wreck, The New York Times published a scathing editorial exhorting railroads to exercise greater safety. Namely, trains travelling in two directions should never share the same tracks (the site is now double tracked from Wayne Junction to Lansdale station and electrified with a track speed). More broadly, there were several other changes implemented, such as the use of the telegraph to notify stations of late trains and communicate other relevant information. The number of passengers on trains became a major concern, especially as it applied to children.