Gasconade Disaster 1855 - Gasconade MO - Railway Disaster Sites on Waymarking.com

"The train left St. Louis in a gloomy heavy rain on November 1st, 1855 with six hundred passengers aboard 14 cars. A supportive crowd cheered the train on as it departed on that rainy fall day. The atmosphere aboard the train was one of celebration. The band played and drinks were served. When the train reached Hermann, an additional car was attached to the train and a company of uniformed soldiers and a band of musicians joined the rest of the passengers.

Initially, the chief road engineer had planned to stop the train at the Gasconade River bridge, so the guests could see the new 760 foot long structure. Due to being behind schedule a fatal decision was made to not stop and continue on to the Jefferson City destination. When the train reached the bridge over the Gasconade River, the temporary wooden trestle work between the east bank and the first pier collapsed. The train plunged 36 feet into the river. Only one car remained on the tracks after the disaster. The steam engine and seven cars fell through the broken timbers, with the others cars rolling down the embankment. Over thirty individuals were killed with hundreds injured seriously. The survivors were confronted with a scene of horror. A moment of silence was soon interrupted with the hiss of the partially submerged locomotive, the shrieks of the wounded and the sounds of breaking glass and splintering wood as the trapped passengers worked to free themselves from the wreckage. The less seriously injured passengers struggled to drag the injured and dead from the wreckage and collapsed timbers. Mangled bleeding bodies were carried in the torrents of rain to nearby shanties for shelter. Late in the afternoon, many of the wounded were moved to Hermann where a hotel was converted to a temporary hospital.

The rain continued through the night and the next day when a special hospital train was sent from St. Louis to Hermann and to the wreckage scene. Survivors with few injuries worked with railroad employees to carry bodies of the dead and load them into freight cars. Survivors were loaded into passenger cars. The once soldiers of celebration, now crudely bandaged or carried on stretchers, overwhelmed by the atmosphere of tragedy, were relieved to be aboard a train to go back home. But the tragedy was prolonged by the events that followed..."

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I was told when the river is low you can see part of the engine still in the water. When we visited the river was still quite high. Hopefully someone will get a chance to post pictures of the remains.
I didn't see anyway to get to the crash sit by land. The coordinates are for an area you can park and view the east side of the bridge. This isn't the original bridge but it is in the same spot. I read that the footings for the existing bridge are pre civil war.

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