March 14, 1887 dawned gray and cold in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was a snappy Monday morning with the temperature at about 34 degrees. Shortly after 6:00 a.m., Boston & Providence Railroad engineer Walter White and his fireman Alfred Billings steamed their engine. The Bussey Bridge, toward which 200 souls in nine fragile coaches were heading, was by any standards, a peculiar structure.
Read MoreOn April 27, 1887 the report of the Railroad Commissioners regarding the Bussey Bridge train disaster on the Boston & Providence Railroad was presented to the United States Senate.
Read MoreBy the accident yesterday [March 14, 1887] on the Boston & Providence Railroad thirty-eight souls were buried into eternity and some forty persons were more or less injured. It was by all odds the most serious of any accident of a like nature that has happened in this State for many years.
Read MoreThe following explanation, prepared by a gentleman who has made a special study of the cause of the disaster at Bussey Bridge, will make clearer the statement written for the Engineering News and published in the Globe Thursday morning. The statement in the Engineering News refers to the defective character of two hangers which were found to have been seriously rusted along the welds at the lower ends.
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