Gasconade Bridge Train Disaster

The Trip

A tragic incident took place on the railway line in Gasconade, Missouri, on November 1, 1855, as a trip of celebration turned into a disastrous crash. It’s known as the “Gasconade Bridge Train Disaster.” The rail line had finally been established between St. Louis and Jefferson City and a group of 600 riders and dignitaries boarded the train in downtown St. Louis pulled by the locomotive Missouri. Onlookers in St. Louis waved goodbye for the last time to dozens of people on board that train as others waited in Jefferson City for a train that never arrived. 

The Crash

The Pacific Railroad rail line between Missouri’s largest city and the capital city was a massive undertaking. The tracks had to be built along bluffs, through forested areas, and over rivers and creeks. One waterway about 8 miles west of Hermann proved to be difficult as a 760-foot wooden bridge had to be constructed over the Gasconade River. That bridge was still unfinished, supported by a temporary trestle, when the inaugural train departed St. Louis. When the Missouri locomotive crossed the bridge, a pier gave way, sending the train crashing down to the ravine below.

The Aftermath

Accounts differ as to injuries and deaths on board, but most report somewhere between 30 and 40 dead and many more injured. injured. Some of the victims were well-known St. Louisans, as the first passenger car full of VIPs was crushed by the locomotive.  Many of the dead were brought back to St. Louis and buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, which is where influential families of that era were buried.

Another train eventually made the trek between St. Louis and Jefferson City about four months later, but the pomp and circumstance had already passed and there was little recognition of the feat.