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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016

STAR BEACON

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DISASTER: Bridge collapse ended, altered lives; hurt citys growth

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junction for the entire

nation, Brown said.
Many of the passengers on the Pacific
Express were people
of some means. They
were enjoying themselves and completely
unaware of any possible
problems ahead.
Carrying over 159
passengers, the train
was crossing the Howe
Truss bridge over the
Ashtabula River Gorge,
less than a thousand
feet from the depot. As
the first locomotive, the
Socrates, made its way
safely over the gorge
and arrived on the
other side, the all-iron
truss bridge collapsed.
The second locomotive,
the Columbia, and all
of the remaining cars
plunged into the gorge
some 76 feet below, he
said.
The engineer of the
lead locomotive heard
one loud crack, then
another as the engine
lurched forward and
the iron truss bridge
fell apart, Brown said.
The second locomotive, uncoupled from
the first, fell into the
gorge. Somehow its
engineer miraculously
escaped with only a
broken leg.
At least 92 people
were killed by the
plunge into the river
gorge and the horrific
fires that began just five
minutes after impact.
Another 64 people were
seriously injured.
Among the dead were
Phillip Bliss, nationally known composer
of gospel songs, his

PHOTO COURTESY OFTHE ASHTABULA MARITIME AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM

This photo shows the wreckage of the Ashtabula Train Disaster, which took place
Dec. 29, 1876. The pump house in the background was used to shelter people from
the snow storm the night of the disaster.

wife, Lucy, and Mary

Birchard, cousin of
president-elect Rutherford B. Hayes.
All of the railroad cars
were ablaze within 10
minutes after impact,
which claimed many
lives, with passengers
sealed inside. The oil
lamps, which were
unsafe and previously
ruled hazardous, added
to the blaze.Other passengers died after being
tossed into the frozen

river and suffering

serious injuries, Brown
said.
It was a scene of
incredible destruction
and carnage, he said.
The crash and ensuing fires drew many
Ashtabula residents to
the scene. They came
and worked tirelessly
to save as many people
as they could, often in
bucket brigade formation. Some, however,
were just gang mem-

bers who came to murder and steal from the

hapless, injured passengers, Brown said.
Because Ashtabula
had no hospital at the
time, victims of the accident were taken to hotels and private homes,
and later transported
by train to Cleveland,
he said.
The Ashtabula Fire
Department showed up
and brought its Neptune fire engine with

a water pump, but the

fire chief, G.A. Knapp,
was so drunk and
incapacitated he never
gave the order to use it,
Brown said.
The fires were so
strong that at least 48
of the deceased were
unrecognizable. Their
remains were later
interred at Chestnut
Grove Cemetery in
Ashtabula in a mass
grave. Bystanders, news
reporters and magazine
writers later described
the river as being
blackened by burned
flesh and colored red by
blood.
Brown said the
bridges designer and
builder, engineer and
tycoon Amasa Stone,
was probably at fault
forthe bridge collapse. He finished the
construction of the
bridge in 1866 with few
problems, however the
bridge was made from
only iron, unlike Stones
other Howe truss bridges, which were build
from both wood and
iron.
In addition, Brown
said the quality of the
iron in the Ashtabula
bridge might not have
been good enough to
deal with the extreme
cold.
Modern engineering
studies by Dr. Dario
Gasparini of Case Western Reserve University
have suggested that
design flaws, the effects
of extreme cold and
micro-fractures from repeated stress were likely contributing factors
to the collapse, Brown
said. After the bridge
collapse, the Ohio Gen-

eral Assemblys investigation found Amasa

Stone responsible for
the disaster.
Local author and historian Carl Feather said
he believes had it not
been for the Great Train
Disaster, Ashtabula
would have become a
larger city and a much
more important rail
center.
Its a shame the city
became known for this
railroad disaster, he
said. Since the railroad
reached the harbor
area in 1873, there had
been steady growth.
Ashtabula was on a
connecting point that
was the shortest distance between the Ohio
River and Lake Erie. But
the sheer tragedy of the
Ashtabula Bridge Disaster brought a focus
on the city that gave it
a bad reputation for a
long time.
Feather said there
were always railroad
accidents in those days
and safety was not
often a major
consideration, but
the magnitude of the
accident and the
social status and fame
of those killed in the
wreck made it a recurrent news story.
It was just negligence
on many levels he
said. Workers dying on
the job on the railroad
was common in those
days. But seeing so
many wealthy people
killed certainly made
the disaster noteworthy
to the public. Railroad
safety finally became a
hot topic, and remained
important for as long as
the trains ran.

HISTORY: Ashtabula man mines and saves the pieces

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luggage plummeted
more than 70 feet into
the cold water and
snow, according to photographs and witnesses
of the crash.
We used to live in
the Gulf When we were
kids. I used to fish
down there, David
Tobias said.
Friends, and later his
father, told him
about the train disaster
and he eventually
got a small metal director and found a couple

of bottles.
That got us into the
treasure hunting, said
Tobias, who loves history and the combination
of the two interests has
kept him going decade
after decade.
The majority
(of salvage from the
site) is melted down
parts of the wreck, he
said.
Some of the pieces
hes found beneath
the bridge are easily connected to the
train disaster, Tobias
said,such as several

metal pieces he has

framed that have the
LS of the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern
Railway engraved on
them.
One of the pieces has
initials on it, he said.
Tobias started
informally as a child,
but he found the hobby
also connected with
his love of history
when he heard about
the train disaster.
He also eventually
got his father,
daughter and now
granddaughter involved

in the hunt.
Tobias said his
father, Burt, now 91,
became hooked after
finding a Franklin dollar
with a metal detector.
Tobias daughter Leah
Frasure and her
daughter, Ellie, 4, also
enjoy looking for
treasurer at the
bridge site.
The Ashtabula Marine
Museum has a display
regarding the disaster
and the Ashtabula Public Library also currently has a display on the
crash.

Over the years, Tobias

has collected buckets
of items believed to be
from the train disaster,
including many he has
framed for posterity.
He said he has also run
into a lot of different
people interested in the
crash site.
It appeals to such a
big group, Tobias said.
Railroad buffs,
engineers, ghost hunters, classic treasure
hunters and ministers
are just some of those
interested in the trains
history.

One of the books

said $1 million in gold
was in the train, Tobias
said though he has
not yet run across any
gold.
Tobias said he
worked with a lot of
area people interested
in maintaining the
history of the train
disaster. While many
have since died, he said
there has been some
renewed interest in the
history.
The story is starting to draw a younger
crowd, he said.

ASHTABULA: City Council approves budget for 2017

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We have got to find

revenue, she said. The
city operates primarily on tax revenue and
user charges, which are
not unlimited funding
sources. If projected revenues are not
realized, expenditures
will have to be reduced.
We will have to monitor the budget closely
and make adjustment
earlier rather than later
in 2017.
Pinkert and City
Manager Jim
Timonere drafted
a 2017 budget that
totals $23 million, a 20
percent decreaseunder
this years $29 million
budget. The difference
is the $8 million spent
this year to renovate
and rebuild the citys
wastewater treatment
plant.
Its going to be a
tight year, he said.
Pinkert said there
are no increases on the
operating side.
The largest expense is
personnel more than
$11 million put aside
for city employees wages and benefits, however that doesnt include
anything for accrued
benefits, she said.
The proposed
budget contains a
1.5 percent wage hike
for the citys union
employees, identical to
the percentage

given non-union-represented employees.

Additional staff will
be added to public
works in 2017, but
that will be covered by
park levy funds and
an increase in license
registration fees.
The police department personnel budget
is set at $2.2 million,
but the police levy residents passed two years
ago pays for five out of
30 officers.
The fire departments
projected expense for
personnel in 2017 is
$2.1 million.
Ward 1 Council
member John Roskovics
asked about the $1.4
million permanent improvement fund, which
is used to purchase or
maintain capital improvements with an
expected life of at least
five years.
Pinkert said the 2017
Permanent Improvement budget included
debt payment for the
2014 and 2015 paving
projects and the sidewalks project on tap
for 2017 that is funded
through a Ohio Department of Transportation
grant.
The city manager
recommends individual
projects throughout the
year and we increase
appropriations as
needed based on those
recommendations, she
said. I feel comfortable

with that.
Two other sizable
expenditures that have
been discussed include
putting a new roof on
the Municipal Building and updating the
security system as well
as a finance software
and city server upgrade,
Pinkert said.
This is still being
considered but not
currently in the 2017
budget, she said.
City officials dont
have a quote for the
roof yet, but the software package was
approved for about
$163,000 and included

in the 2017 budget,

she said.
Revenues are generally fixed compared to 2016, she
said.Pinkertis expecting to see more contributions from Municipal
Court, where officials
have allocated more
fines to the general
fund and are working
diligently to collect delinquent fines, she said.
We budgeted conservatively on income tax
revenue, she said. Its
still unsure how the
new tax law will affect
us.
The new tax law,

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which the state passed

in 2014 and became
effective Jan. 1 of this
year, includes a provision allowing a Net
Operating Loss carry
forward, which the city
didnt previously allow,
to be phased-in starting
2017.
Pinkert has said she
does not know how the
law will affect the city
until it is fully implemented.
City officials expect
additional revenue of
about $65,000 from vehicle registration fees,
and $288,000 for parks
from the passage of the

November levy.
Sewer and trash rates
need to be reviewed
for 2017 as the expense for providing
service should come
from user charges. City
residents could see a
rate increase next year,
Pinkert said.
Traditionally, city
officials review it every
three years and its
been more than three
years since a rate hike
has been implemented.
The 2017 budget is
available for the public
to view on the citys
website (cityofashtabula.com).