Late Accident on the Pennsylvania Railroad, March 4, 1853

Accidents were frightfully common on American railroads in the mid-19th century. Cheap construction, crude equipment, poor signaling, and uncoordinated timekeeping all contributed to the problem. This illustration shows a wreck on the Pennsylvania Railroad on March 4, 1853. A passenger train, halted by mechanical problems, was rear-ended by a mail train, killing seven people.