Train Accident

The animation that you saw when you entered this site was part of the route of the actual P.T. Barnum Circus train. This story, however, relates to the special advertizing car that did the same route one month prior to this circus train. The special advertizing car put up posters, billboards, and press releases for the up and coming circus.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck this train car on the 28th of August, 1877 near the town of Altoona Iowa. The cause of this “Four Mile Train Wreck” was excessive amounts of rain the previous week which in turn caused an old stone railroad bridge to collapse. When the advertizing car rounded a bend it fell into the creek, where the bridge once spanned.

After the bridge collapsed, the chasm was filled with the wreckage of the locomotive and various train cars including P.T. Barnum's special advertizing car. This prevented more loss of life because the one passenger car couldn't fall into the filled chasm.

Here are the names of the killed and wounded belonging to the P.T. Barnum Advertisement Car, which erected the billboard which is seen on this website.

F.A. Keeler, Conductor, Uninjured.
Jack Breeze, Foreman, Killed.
Green Rerry, Railroad Excursion Agent, Killed.
Henry Jennings, Lithographer, Wounded.
Charles Thompson, Program Agent, Killed.
A. E. Fling, Program Agent, Uninjured .
F. A. Baker, Program Agent, Killed.
Andrew Mack, Poster, Killed.
William Clayton, Poster, Wounded.
Abner West, Poster, Wounded.
Edward Dunn, Poster, Wounded.
George Rockwell, Poster, Killed.
John Brosell, Poster, Killed.
James Baker, Poster, Wounded.