Great Train Wreck of 1856

The Great Train Wreck of 1856

Artist's impression
Date	July 17, 1856
Location	Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania
Country	United States
Operator	North Pennsylvania Railroad
Type of incident	collision
Cause	Human error
Statistics
Trains	2: "Shakamaxon" and "Aramingo"
Passengers	"Shakamaxon": 1,100-1,500; "Aramingo": 20
Deaths	Approx 60
Injuries	Over 100

The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill Station 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 the city of 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 further 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 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 by The New York Times on July 18, 1856, as carrying 1,100 people (although there may have been as many as 1,500), was due to arrive in Wissahickon at 6:00 am. 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.