1887 Great Chatsworth train wreck

Great Chatsworth train wreck
Wreck on the day after
Details
DateAugust 10, 1887
Approximately 11:55 p.m.
LocationChatsworth Township, Livingston County, between Chatsworth and Piper City, Illinois, USA
Coordinates40°45′18″N 88°15′28″W / 40.75500°N 88.25778°W / 40.75500; -88.25778
CountryUnited States
OperatorToledo, Peoria and Western Railroad
Incident typeDerailment
CauseBridge collapse
Statistics
Trains1
Deaths81 or 85

The Great Chatsworth train wreck was a major rail accident that occurred late on the night of August 10, 1887, 3 miles (5 km) east of Chatsworth, Illinois, in the United States. A Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad (TP&W) train bound for Niagara Falls crossed over a trestle, weakened earlier in the day by a fire, causing it to collapse. In 2007, staff of the McLean County Museum of History wrote that "the Chatsworth Train Wreck probably ranks as the second- or third-deadliest U.S rail accident in the 19th century."