One tragic detail that separates the Hammond Wreck from other catastrophes that result partially from human error is that you rarely have someone like Oscar Timm doing everything exactly right in a bid to avert disaster. You can really feel his desperation.
More or less being criminally negligent, but he isn't the first conductor to fall asleep when they are supposed to be controlling the train which is why they put something called the dead man's pedal to stop the train if pressure isn't applied at all times, but it isn't like that helps either because conductors place something heavy on it to continuously apply pressure which defeats the purpose of the pedal.
@@crossfire2045 ...which is why, for decades now, this switch (pedal, lever, or button) needs to be PERIODICALLY activated, not continuously, and stops the train after X minutes since last activation.
@@crossfire2045 I think you got the brake man of the circus train confused with the engineer of the troop train. Oscar Timm was very much awake while Alonzo Sargent was literally asleep.
I’ve been on Showmen’s rest. A lot of the headstones don’t have their real names because no one knew them. I remember seeing “unknown male” or “horse driver.”
For many the circus was a place to escape. They may have had a nickname to be called by but many went to the circus to be someone new and so never have their real name, even after years.
It reminds me of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Many of the soldiers were buried with grave markers that simply say UNKNOWN on them. Some luckier ones had their rank, but there were many who were never identified.
Even if they went by a fake name I'd imagine it would be better to put that down than say "unknown person". Didn't the survivors eventually know who of their crew was missing and this probably dead? I feel like they could have identified who had died
I was expecting this story to begin another way, with that train stopping willy nilly. But the flare guy sprinting towards the troop train and yeeting a flare at it really did everything he could.
I feel bad for the flare guy. Trying his best to warn the train yet it did not stop and he just watches the train zoom past into the train where his family are unaware.
This was long before radio communications and efficient signals. Many railroads at this point in time were still using timetables to determine where trains should be and when. Example: Train A is a passenger train which departs from station 1 at 10:00 am, scheduled to stop at station 2 at 10:47 am. Train B is a freight train passing through from yard 1 to yard 2. Train B cannot be on the same track as train A but is scheduled to pass station 2 at 10:50 am, so it must divert onto siding 1 until train A passes, then it may continue. Unfortunately, many trains ran behind schedule and were forced to pick up the pace to make up for lost time.
Growing up in Chicago, my dad told us about the circus and took us to Showman's Rest. Most of the graves have no name because a lot of the workers weren't documented or travelers. It's incredibly sad.
I used to live in Maywood and my mom talked about Showman's Rest one time. Apparently there were rumors that they had buried the animals as well at that cemetery and you can hear their spirits at night. Not that the cemetery is right nextdoor to Brookfield Zoo.
@@doggiemaina11 Dad mentioned the spooky elephants in the wind, luckily didn't hear that. I just remember graves like 'Unidentified Male' and similar ones.
I can't imagine the terror that Oscar Tim experienced watching the other train plow full speed into the circus train. Just the thought of all of your fellow circus performers getting decimated by a speeding locomotive is a horrifying thought
Yes!! Watching that train coming full speed, doing EVERYTHING he could to STOP IT....only to have to helplessly watch it happen and “hope” for some kind of a miracle. That kind of a situation is what nightmares are made of. 😔💔
@@Shilanga-w2k Oscar Timm died in August 1968. Nor sure if I can link it but his findagrave id is 101289726: www.findagrave.com/memorial/101289726/oscar-august-timm
Just imagine it, your mind racing, realizing that the train isn't stopping. You don't know why, but what you do know is that you're about to witness many, many people you know being violently killed and traumatized, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
the fact that other shows lent their performers so that the circus could continue warms my heart. it’s like regardless of who you’re performing for, showmen are family. and showmen’s rest sounds like a lovely place for passed performers to be at peace 💖
It is somewhat similar to the Chapecoense plane crash in 2016. After the crash devastated the team, their rivals for the upcoming Copa Sudamerica final (Atletico Nacional) offered to forfeit the game so that Chapecoense would win. Similarly, other clubs from around Brazil offered players to Chapecoense free of charge to enable them to rebuild.
@Some Guy i was recently in a car accident(t-boned off the highway at 80 MPH) that left our car totaled- i was in the backseat asleep and awoke to smashing my face against a large metal lantern. can agree that the shock of it doesn’t really hit you until you fully wake up. my only memory is a firefighter walking up to me and saying “you’re in shock, i need you to take a seat in my car” bc i was just staring at the highway after being pulled from wreckage. the guy who knew the train was coming, i can’t imagine the anxiety he felt watching a train plow high speed into another carrying multiple people he knew, or might’ve been close with.
That's the reason why Britain's worst rail disaster at Quintinshill had such a high death toll; wooden carriages and lighting, which in Quintinshill's case was gas. Thanks for a very interesting and shocking story that I had not heard of before.
All these "Short Documentaries" are Informative, with sensitive and knowledgeable commentary, solid research, not overly dramatised, AND a very fine narrator. Thank you for the whole series.
I remember subscribing to you when you just started. I'm not surprised you are so big now. You are informative, sensitive, tactful and entertaining. That is an incredibly hard balancing act. My favourite disaster channel
My mom always told me about showman's rest because we live right by it and pass it frequently, but incorrectly told me that it was a grave for the elephants who died and they couldn't move them. Glad to know the actual story and how it honors the performers.
@@TheSecretLover not really a laugh, but more of a decent human being of a mother telling a child a variation of a story that was otherwise traumatizing to hear.
Yeah during the Victorian and Edwardian time periods. Train collisions and derailments as well as steamboat fires and explosions where the airline disasters of those time periods.
What an amazing coincidence to catch this video! I have a family connection to this event, and always wanted more details. My grandfather, whom I never met, was a "first responder" from the local police department when this accident happened. The gruesomeness of the events he experienced that night, as related by my mother -- then only nine years old -- still linger in my mind. I've always wanted to know the back-story of the "Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus" train wreck, and I still have a silver dollar keepsake he recovered from the wreckage 114 years ago. Ironically, he would be killed years later in night-time grade crossing accident caused by sleeping train engineer, traveling without a headlight.
Wow! That's terrible, im so very sorry 😢 we never know when the sun comes up what awaits for us or if we will see the sun come up again, take nothing for granted, don't assume you will have tomorrow, tell your families you love them and be kind , so very very sorry for your loss 😢❤
I think it's more on the heads of the company than the conductor. Back then, they didn't know, or understand, the dangers of overworked drivers or train conductors. Owners of shipping companies are more interested in getting their cargo to its destination than in the safety of their workers, which is why there had to be laws written about it. This conductor was very likely overworked, it isn't as if he tried to fall asleep.
@@nyotamwuaji6484 You would think so. But the ones who go to trial are often unable to afford the fancy lawyers. It's something about disasters - few juries ever seem to come to a decision about whom to blame, and even if they do find someone to blame, the punishments are often lifted six months down the line, or are derisory to begin with.
It's horrifying to see how stupid little human mistakes can cause so much pain and devastation **as many decided to point out that falling asleep isn't a mistake, I should clarify. I didn't ment that this specific story, there's plenty of stories on this channel, that could have been avoided but happe because of neglect or simple ignorance **
It's hard to call falling asleep a "mistake". People alive today fall asleep while driving and cause wrecks all the time... It is hard to defend against that sense of sleep because of how slowly it sets in. Your brain doesn't realize what is happening until too late. It is quite literally unaware. I think it was right those involved didn't to jail.
@@TheNewRobotMaster Nonsense everyone knows when they are tired and if you are tired when driving then stop for a sleep somewhere safe and if you can't do that then open the windows wide open so its freezing in the car and turn the radio on full blast. Its what my mother used to do and what I do if I'm ever in that situation.
I wish I could, I was hanging with some locals outside of Quimixto, riding horses and smoking the local herb and it came up. Not a one day tourist thing, I hung for a week and my buddy six months. Fascinating, they mentioned seeing tigers and I said you mean puma or jaguar? Nope, tiger. Crazy.
I was raised in Hammond Indiana, and actually lived 2 blocks from Woodlawn cemetery. I live across the country now, but I'm just blown away that I had never heard of this event before now.
@@RosinGoblin Totally! In fact, I lived on Chestnut Ave, and one street away were abandoned railroad tracks that we would use to walk to school, and I'm thinking that's where this happened.
I started to see a pattern with these train disasters; a lot of death by impact and fire caused by ignorance, and the guy who's responsible for this always escape unharmed and were never punished.
You could argue that this was all a human-factors incident, the driver had gotten little sleep in the previous 24 hours, as well as the meals and motion. Wasn't intentional negligence as is seen in a lot of these cases, so I wouldn't consider it to be reasonable to punish this person. Nowadays the justice system has become more a vengeance system, people want the closure of someone being blamed and punished. Though there sure are plenty of cases where someone very knowingly did something wrong yet got off free, which is unacceptable - usually because they're rich and powerful.
Read about "The Gran-Circus Norte Americano fire" or "1961 Niteroi Circus Fire". About shows and circus, the worst tragedy (mostly because it was a combination of crime and negligence). The official death toll is 503.
The camaraderie of show folk has always astounded me, but no more than in this story. It's truly the skill of a showman to grieve so terribly and still go on to preform again. Wonderful job FH
An overheated wheel bearing was called a "hotbox" and was a fairly common ocurrence before the advent of roller bearings for railroad bogeys. I've seen quite a few back in the 1950s and early 60s - one nighttime hotbox was glowing fiery red and smoke streamed backwards for 100s of yards. There was a trough full of oil which lubricated the oil-soaked felt pads wrapped around the bearing, and the oil often caught fire and burned wooden baxcars to the ground or caused derailments. The railroad worker's signal to those in the caboose was to stand holding their nose while pointing at the train going by so the train caould be stopped before disaster ensued. Roller bearings, trackside hotbox and dragging equipment detectors obviated the need for men on the ass end, and those jobs and the caboose went the way of the disnosaur.
Wow the bit about showmen's rest is incredibly heart warming. The elephant's trunks lowered in respect and the idea they could have all been friends in another life brought a tear to my eye
Speaking of rail disasters, maybe you'd be interested in doing a video on the Granville Rail Disaster. In Granville, Sydney in 1977, a morning commuter train derailed, crashing into the supports of a bridge, which then collapsed, killing 84 and injuring another 213 people. It remains as Australia's worst railway disaster, and was apparently caused by poor fastening of the tracks.
Would you consider taking a look at the Coalbrook mining disaster in South Africa? Killed more than 400 miners in the collapse and explosion of a coal mine in South Africa, 1960.
@@snogglewort1 It truly was. The more horrifying part is that this is nowhere near the largest mining disaster. Multiple others have happened from then-Rhodesia, China, Japan, etc. Mining today can be a dangerous job, it used to be MUCH more dangerous though.
These stories are so tragic, yet so beautifully executed. You do the victims justice in your heartfelt retellings so their stories may still be heard. I don't know about the vast majority of the events you cover and it means a lot to me to be able to learn about them in such a respectful way. Glad to have been here from the start and see the channel continuing on this path. Thank you.
That is one sick train wreck. And the dedication of the surviving performers to rescue their fellow members is very brave and commendable. The grave site dedicated to those lost looks great.
Apparently, he pioneered the use of rewards to train animals instead of fear and the use of animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natural habitats. I mean, he also displayed human "savages", but not bad for the late 19th century.
@@odyssea-the-seeker Yeah. By today’s standards we’d judge Carl Hagenbeck and his family (they were exotic animal traders, after all), but by the standards of his day, they were considered very progressive.
Seems like there should have been a rule about keeping two people on watch in case one fell asleep, like the one about ensuring more than one pilot in the cockpit of planes now. Of course, I know why rules like that didn’t exist back then, but it just seems like common sense.
Ah yes, My favorite thing on a Tuesday morning. Have you ever thought about doing the Stardust Nightclub Fire in Dublin, Ireland, I think the total death count was 83, and still affects the vast majority of the Irish population.
The Hither Green Train Wreck on November 5, 1967 almost killed “Bee Gee” singer Robin Gibb. 49 people died and he was a hero rescuing many of the passengers.
This has to be my favorite video so far 🥺 I got goosebumps learning about how the other circuses shared performers and crew. Such triumph of the human spirit.
I doubt this comment will be seen by the video's creator, but I will try anyway. I am a traveling roadie for festivals, essentially a modern circus laborer. Our industry's history is not often discussed, and when it is discussed it's still discussed as a freaky sideshow. I had never heard of this story, nor of the showman's league, nor the cemetery. Thank you for telling this story so compassionately, thank you for honoring the traveling family with your informative presentation. I've seen with your channel that no matter who you're speaking about, fancy rich people in burning theaters or nameless, estateless laborers from small villages Somewhere Else, you always speak about human life, loss, and fear with great respect and dignity. Every video of yours I've seen, it's clear how much time you've taken to ponder over the human lives and how to respectfully present their drama without being dramatic yourself. Your nuance is valued. Thank you for telling this story, I'd love to hear more from you about American travelers/ stage crews, especially since many of us don't know our own history and legacy.
Electric and diesel trains have the "dead man's handle", that stops the train if pressure from an awake / alive human isn't put on it. This dates back to the very early days of such trains, I suppose steam engines didn't have them because there'd be at least two men in the cab (fast expresses had a whole team of firemen who took turns, sometimes there was even a corridor through the coal, and bedrooms in the first carriage for them), so you'd expect one to wake the other!
From memory, the 'dead man's handle' was introduced after a fatal wreck on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. The motorman had tied the regulator down, it is believed so that he could spy on a courting couple in the leading compartment. For whatever reason he was leaning, facing backwards out of the cab, and didn't see an approaching bridge. With no one in the cab and the regulator tied down, the train ran on, pitching into the back of a preceding stationary train.... Sadly it wasn't unknown for an engine driver to nod off, even briefly, at the regulator, long enough to miss signals. The Charfield, Gloucestershire disaster is a classic example. And it still happens now, with motor vehicles.
@@johndavies9270 Nodding off has also caused at least one major plane crash that I'm aware of. See Colgan Air Flight 3407, which went down in upstate New York in 2009.
@@hamsterama Technically, they hadn't actually nodded off to a state of unresponsiveness, but acute fatigue was a major factor in that accident, to be sure. That accident was also a huge wakeup call, no pun intended, to the punishing work schedules and crazy low pay in the regional airline industry.
@@daviddunsmore103 That's true, the pilots didn't actually fall asleep. But imagine trying to drive a car when you've barely slept. Now, imagine flying a commercial airplane. It's too bad that people had to die before any action took place. There was an episode of the show Mayday about this crash, that aired on National Geographic and the Weather Channel. I recall that in the episode, the captain was reported to have been seen sleeping in the pilot's lounge of the airport, right before he flew. By the way, from that show, I learned that one of the passengers that died in the Colgan Air crash was the widow of a 9/11 victim. Talk about bad luck!
@William Marten Steam engines can most definitely be quickly turned on and off, you just change the amount of steam being admitted to the pistons via the valves. The boiler is the part that takes a long time to build up steam pressure, and a long time to cool down. When steam is not being used from the boiler, it is vented to atmosphere to maintain a working pressure and prevent it from exploding.
You should check out the Ozone Disco fire that took place in the Philippines on 1996. 162 died and most of them had just graduated from college and were celebrating. They found the bodies piled up waist high in front of the door which were stupidly designed to just open inwards.
That's quite common that a nightclub is designed with a doorway that makes exits difficult. It's to stop patrons from skipping out on their tabs. The Station nightclub fire in Long Island also had bodies piled up 5-6 high in a narrow entry doorway at the end of a slim corridor. It makes me sick to think of it.
I cannot imagine what must have been going through Oscar Timms mind when the other train just kept barreling along. I thought perhaps it would be a more complicated reason, something long the lines of Leslie Newson. So much tragedy among heartwarming assistance from other circuses!
Showman's rest is so beautiful. I'm so so glad you covered this. I love when you read first hand accounts and I certainly wouldn't be upset to hear more per video.
I wonder how many of us had this channel as our first thought when it happened. I feel SO bad for all those people, so I don't mean to sound flippant. But it does still somehow amuse me that so many of us think of him first when we see stuff these days. I was watching a video that began with a dude driving to the roof of a parking garage, and all I could think was "Hell no, man, get off there!"
This seems to be the agreed-upon cause, at least for now; "Long-term degradation of reinforced concrete support structures in the underground garage due to water penetration and corrosion of the reinforcing steel is being considered as a potential factor in, or cause of, the collapse. The issues had been reported in 2018 and noted as "much worse" in April 2021. A $15 million program of remedial works had been approved at the time of the collapse."
I actually thought of FH when I heard about the condo collapse. It would be interesting to hear him talk about it! Especially since it happened so recently and it’s still even ongoing with 4 more bodies pulled out today. But oof, I feel so terrible for the people involved. 😭
@@jensaugust743 And that $15 million would never have fixed the underlying, biggest issue: Not enough rebar placed in support columns. Severely weakening them as a deviation from original design. Even without rust, it was carrying a load too heavy.
Have to check that out. I'm working on my genealogy and came across a grave marker (Find a Grave) with the dates rubbed off, the name of the person I was looking for, but the inscription said "9 years old". No way to tell if she was the daughter of the person I was researching or not. Records back in the early 1800s were often poorly kept. (Except New York. I swear they took a census every 5 years and stored them very carefully.)
@@sophierobinson2738 I’ve been working on my genealogy this last year too. I’m a Mormon in Utah and the church has such amazing records! I found the passenger manifest for the steamer they came across from England which was pretty cool. I also found out my family was baptized by John Smith himself which I thought was kinda cool (I’m not active but I’m sure it would be excellent bragging rights at church haha). I love find a grave, and walking around cemeteries is my happy place
I'm from this area and was wondering if you'd ever cover this on your channel. The respect and sensitivity you show when telling these tragic stories is always wonderful to see, thank you. Very well done.
Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing about this tragedy. It’s so sad that those who labored to bring a smile to others’ faces were lost in near anonymity due to tragedy.
Thank you for your channel. I truly appreciate your thoughtful approach of presenting historically accurate tragedies in an approach that is both educational and optimistic in the lessons learned.
I'm... not sure about this. I was nowhere near a train this day, but I still have memories about it (I'm German.). The crash is still very in peoples minds and the families of the deceased still meet up yearly in Eschede. But I think Fascinationg Horror could do a sensible video about Eschede. (That said, hey Fascinating Horror, if you ever do a video about Eschede, I can help translate sources! For example the English Wikipedia article isn't very good, if you need help with the German one, just contact me!)
It's not often that I get emotional over stories of circus tragedies. That final memorial at the end was so touching, though. It's so moving I was brought to tears. Such a beautiful tribute to those who died traveling to bring smiles and joy entertainment to people back in the day.
I knew I had heard of this story before! It's mentioned in the documentary "Killer Legends" when discussing the fear of clowns and where some of the fear originates from. One of the clowns they discussed was Joe Coyle (one of the performers that survived; I believe he might be the one in white at the 0:26 mark) and how he took on a sadder and darker persona after losing his wife and children in this collision.
I went to Showmen's Rest with a group of people from Richard Crowe's haunted tours around the Chicago area. One of our stops was there. I remember just feeling really sad looking at the headstones. A lot were unmarked but one stood out from the others. I was an unknown female and people would leave flowers for her on Mother's Day. Not sure if they did that with all the female headstones but I just remember hearing the story from a local. I grew up in Hammond and the Circus was always a big thing there at the Civic Center. I remember hearing stories about that awful night that took the lives of people and animals.
I love how respectful you are when describing these tragedies. Most channels seem to go for shock value but you instead are very careful and respectful to the victims. You got a new subscriber.
Makes you think, even if the circus train hadn't stopped, it moving at only 25mph means the troop train would still of caught up to it, and the accident still happening.
Yeah, I wonder about the speed of the troop train. Even without being stopped, having the impact happen at troop-train mph - 25 mph the impact would have been bad. 😥
It's like a really sadistic math problem. If a circus train leaves a station doing 25 mph and an unladen troop train leaves on the same track traveling faster than 25 mph, how many circus performers will die when the troop train catches up?
There's always a dislike on the video, even when it's new. It's hilarious to me that one one turned notifications on just to dislike every video. Now that's some dedication
Sadly there is a trend out there to be the first to dislike a video. And other sad people might of taken a dislike to something said or shown in a previous video and then seen it as their mission in life to dislike every subsequent video from the channel. Usually just loosers with nothing else better to do with their time than to troll people.
@@justandy333 it doesn't effect the RUclipsr at all. YT doesn't stop recommending the videos because of dislikes. If anything it's a good thing because he gets the view
@Don’t get Banned! I suggest you go back and re-read what I said. You've clearly misunderstood. Somehow you've drawn a conclusion that disliking it makes them a looser. No, this is not what I said. As to my insecurities, well, you brought it up which would suggest its at the forefront you your mind, not mine.
I love these videos. I learn so much of historic events i never even knew take place. If i can recommend two events id love to know more about its Estonia and the discotheque fire in Göteborg, Sweden in 1998.
The train at 4:27 is the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The car behind the tender is the "Francis L Suter," a Pennsylvania Railroad business car that I used to own. It was four years old at the time of the Hammond wreck. You can see more of it in the channel PRR7503.
I remember seeing circus wagons with the Hagenbach Wallace name on the side during Milwaukee's Schlitz Circus Parade every summer. Trains would bring the wagons down from Baraboo, where they are housed. I think they used every team of draft horses from the surrounding counties to pull them. Those were the days.
I am a television RUclips viewer so I don’t comment on many videos but man- this one got me. I love your stuff, always. But the end of this video actually made me cry. 🥲
Fascinating Horror, you do a great job on the history and the events that you cover in your videos, well spoken. And as for this story, that was most definitely a terrible tragedy.
I work for a rail museum. I have heard stories from employees who are not given to imagination yet many of them claim this stretch of track has a different vibe. Sometimes people have heard animals, the voices of people shouting in fright or screaming, and the smell of smoke when nothing is around.
I'm from Hammond so I was hoping you were going to cover this one day! My grandparents are actually buried in the same cemetery where Showmen's Rest is, though I've never had the opportunity to go visit the memorial myself.
I definitely thought Fascinating Horror covered this before, but then I realized I watch another channel that exclusively talks about train accidents, and I think that was them. That said, rather than a diss, I feel like that's a complement to Fascinating Horror. As much as I enjoy the other channel, devoting an entire channel specifically to train accidents (not just trains, not just accidents. Just train accidents) is getting pretty... niche?, so the fact that *that's* the only other place I've ever heard of this and the fact that you give enough detail that I honestly couldn't tell that you didn't spend all your time researching train accidents for a living says something about the quality.
One tragic detail that separates the Hammond Wreck from other catastrophes that result partially from human error is that you rarely have someone like Oscar Timm doing everything exactly right in a bid to avert disaster. You can really feel his desperation.
More or less being criminally negligent, but he isn't the first conductor to fall asleep when they are supposed to be controlling the train which is why they put something called the dead man's pedal to stop the train if pressure isn't applied at all times, but it isn't like that helps either because conductors place something heavy on it to continuously apply pressure which defeats the purpose of the pedal.
@@crossfire2045 ...which is why, for decades now, this switch (pedal, lever, or button) needs to be PERIODICALLY activated, not continuously, and stops the train after X minutes since last activation.
@@crossfire2045Are you suggesting Oscar Timm fell asleep?
@@crossfire2045 I think you got the brake man of the circus train confused with the engineer of the troop train. Oscar Timm was very much awake while Alonzo Sargent was literally asleep.
@@crossfire2045 Every train I know of uses a Dead Man handle, which can't be defeated. A pedal would be beyond useless and ridiculous
I’ve been on Showmen’s rest. A lot of the headstones don’t have their real names because no one knew them. I remember seeing “unknown male” or “horse driver.”
For many the circus was a place to escape. They may have had a nickname to be called by but many went to the circus to be someone new and so never have their real name, even after years.
It reminds me of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Many of the soldiers were buried with grave markers that simply say UNKNOWN on them. Some luckier ones had their rank, but there were many who were never identified.
@@daffers2345 😭😭😭😭
That’s so sad.
Even if they went by a fake name I'd imagine it would be better to put that down than say "unknown person". Didn't the survivors eventually know who of their crew was missing and this probably dead? I feel like they could have identified who had died
I was expecting this story to begin another way, with that train stopping willy nilly. But the flare guy sprinting towards the troop train and yeeting a flare at it really did everything he could.
I feel bad for the flare guy. Trying his best to warn the train yet it did not stop and he just watches the train zoom past into the train where his family are unaware.
That man is a hero
@@TheEnabledDisabled that man was a tragic story, I'm not sure hero is appropriate. I'm sure he would agree.
This was long before radio communications and efficient signals. Many railroads at this point in time were still using timetables to determine where trains should be and when.
Example: Train A is a passenger train which departs from station 1 at 10:00 am, scheduled to stop at station 2 at 10:47 am. Train B is a freight train passing through from yard 1 to yard 2. Train B cannot be on the same track as train A but is scheduled to pass station 2 at 10:50 am, so it must divert onto siding 1 until train A passes, then it may continue.
Unfortunately, many trains ran behind schedule and were forced to pick up the pace to make up for lost time.
Or at least... that’s how the story is told today...
Growing up in Chicago, my dad told us about the circus and took us to Showman's Rest. Most of the graves have no name because a lot of the workers weren't documented or travelers. It's incredibly sad.
I lived near Hammond until I was 20 and this is the first I've ever heard of this...
I used to live in Maywood and my mom talked about Showman's Rest one time. Apparently there were rumors that they had buried the animals as well at that cemetery and you can hear their spirits at night. Not that the cemetery is right nextdoor to Brookfield Zoo.
@@doggiemaina11 Dad mentioned the spooky elephants in the wind, luckily didn't hear that. I just remember graves like 'Unidentified Male' and similar ones.
Odd that the video doesn’t state that the cemetery is in Forest Park
Supposed to be haunted. 👻
I can't imagine the terror that Oscar Tim experienced watching the other train plow full speed into the circus train. Just the thought of all of your fellow circus performers getting decimated by a speeding locomotive is a horrifying thought
Yes!! Watching that train coming full speed, doing EVERYTHING he could to STOP IT....only to have to helplessly watch it happen and “hope” for some kind of a miracle.
That kind of a situation is what nightmares are made of. 😔💔
@@Shilanga-w2k I expect so, as he had run down the track to the other train. He was probably at a distance when the crash happened
@@Shilanga-w2k Oscar Timm died in August 1968. Nor sure if I can link it but his findagrave id is 101289726: www.findagrave.com/memorial/101289726/oscar-august-timm
I think they got worse than decimation
Just imagine it, your mind racing, realizing that the train isn't stopping. You don't know why, but what you do know is that you're about to witness many, many people you know being violently killed and traumatized, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
the fact that other shows lent their performers so that the circus could continue warms my heart. it’s like
regardless of who you’re performing for, showmen are family.
and showmen’s rest sounds like a lovely place for passed performers to be at peace 💖
It is somewhat similar to the Chapecoense plane crash in 2016. After the crash devastated the team, their rivals for the upcoming Copa Sudamerica final (Atletico Nacional) offered to forfeit the game so that Chapecoense would win. Similarly, other clubs from around Brazil offered players to Chapecoense free of charge to enable them to rebuild.
Yes this was beautifully and respectfully done
@Samson Holdsworth wdym bruh
@Samson Holdsworth That is the kind of the cringe bruv man
@Samson Holdsworth Anyone that calls anything “cringe” must have an underdeveloped brain. Go be bitter somewhere else.
The final section about showmen's rest was touching. I'm continually impressed by your tact and well written script. Keep it up!
Came to say the exact same thing, very moving! Beautiful tribute.
Aven 45 and Self Healer, I absolutely agree with you both! His voice so compliments any story he tells...
I have been watching this channel for some time and I had never teared up until today. Truly tactful and moving.
Yeah,he's a good unn.
Woodlawn Cemetery isn't too far from my home and we see the elephants from the road when we drive by.
That survivor's account was chilling. You could just sense the fear they must have felt.
OMG, I was just sick listening to that part.
@Some Guy i was recently in a car accident(t-boned off the highway at 80 MPH) that left our car totaled- i was in the backseat asleep and awoke to smashing my face against a large metal lantern. can agree that the shock of it doesn’t really hit you until you fully wake up. my only memory is a firefighter walking up to me and saying “you’re in shock, i need you to take a seat in my car” bc i was just staring at the highway after being pulled from wreckage.
the guy who knew the train was coming, i can’t imagine the anxiety he felt watching a train plow high speed into another carrying multiple people he knew, or might’ve been close with.
"head split open" is all I heard. 😬
Having been in a 90 mph car wreck, I was hit with phantom pains just thinking about how much pain that person must have been in. My god...
@@HaileyGotsIt I am so glad for you that you survived such an awful crash! Angels all around you. 😇 Jean in California
That's the reason why Britain's worst rail disaster at Quintinshill had such a high death toll; wooden carriages and lighting, which in Quintinshill's case was gas. Thanks for a very interesting and shocking story that I had not heard of before.
I believe this was also the case of the harrow train disaster of 1952, minus the gas fire part.
I'm fairly positive the bryn athyn train wreck was one of (if not the) reason wooden coaches were pretty much banned in the US
All these "Short Documentaries" are Informative, with sensitive and knowledgeable commentary, solid research, not overly dramatised, AND a very fine narrator. Thank you for the whole series.
I remember subscribing to you when you just started. I'm not surprised you are so big now. You are informative, sensitive, tactful and entertaining. That is an incredibly hard balancing act. My favourite disaster channel
@R D. Yes, mine also!
Mine too
My mom always told me about showman's rest because we live right by it and pass it frequently, but incorrectly told me that it was a grave for the elephants who died and they couldn't move them. Glad to know the actual story and how it honors the performers.
Tell your mom thanks for the laugh. Now I’m picturing a giant hole next to a dead elephant as the circus tries to figure out how to push the body in.
@@TheSecretLover not really a laugh, but more of a decent human being of a mother telling a child a variation of a story that was otherwise traumatizing to hear.
Yeah during the Victorian and Edwardian time periods. Train collisions and derailments as well as steamboat fires and explosions where the airline disasters of those time periods.
Very true, well put.
Boy did they love to just stand there and gawp at the wreckage without bothering to help anyone injured or dying..
"WERE"...
@Smoked Yan. Heh-heh, the EDWARDIAN era!! You know, size matters!
More people died in individual train wrecks and ship wrecks than die in a year worth of aircraft crashes…
What an amazing coincidence to catch this video! I have a family connection to this event, and always wanted more details. My grandfather, whom I never met, was a "first responder" from the local police department when this accident happened. The gruesomeness of the events he experienced that night, as related by my mother -- then only nine years old -- still linger in my mind. I've always wanted to know the back-story of the "Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus" train wreck, and I still have a silver dollar keepsake he recovered from the wreckage 114 years ago. Ironically, he would be killed years later in night-time grade crossing accident caused by sleeping train engineer, traveling without a headlight.
Wow! That's terrible, im so very sorry 😢 we never know when the sun comes up what awaits for us or if we will see the sun come up again, take nothing for granted, don't assume you will have tomorrow, tell your families you love them and be kind , so very very sorry for your loss 😢❤
Every time with these disasters it seems those clearly to blame escape any punishment. It's baffling.
If you have the cash/influence/blackmail material you can make those in power look the other way...
I think it's more on the heads of the company than the conductor. Back then, they didn't know, or understand, the dangers of overworked drivers or train conductors. Owners of shipping companies are more interested in getting their cargo to its destination than in the safety of their workers, which is why there had to be laws written about it. This conductor was very likely overworked, it isn't as if he tried to fall asleep.
@@kathyjones1576 that would fall under influence maybe because it was a troop train, which I think were government owned? For soldier transport?
It's infuriating
@@nyotamwuaji6484 You would think so. But the ones who go to trial are often unable to afford the fancy lawyers. It's something about disasters - few juries ever seem to come to a decision about whom to blame, and even if they do find someone to blame, the punishments are often lifted six months down the line, or are derisory to begin with.
It's horrifying to see how stupid little human mistakes can cause so much pain and devastation
**as many decided to point out that falling asleep isn't a mistake, I should clarify. I didn't ment that this specific story, there's plenty of stories on this channel, that could have been avoided but happe because of neglect or simple ignorance **
Because we all think we can do things tired... once the chin drops, it's time to pull over...
@@garethlewis6633 probably before that, really
It's hard to call falling asleep a "mistake". People alive today fall asleep while driving and cause wrecks all the time... It is hard to defend against that sense of sleep because of how slowly it sets in. Your brain doesn't realize what is happening until too late. It is quite literally unaware.
I think it was right those involved didn't to jail.
@@TheNewRobotMaster Nonsense everyone knows when they are tired and if you are tired when driving then stop for a sleep somewhere safe and if you can't do that then open the windows wide open so its freezing in the car and turn the radio on full blast. Its what my mother used to do and what I do if I'm ever in that situation.
@@chatteyj cool. It's what you and mommy do so it must mean every human is exactly the same and should react exactly like you and mommy. 🙄
There’s folklore in Jalisco Mexico of a derailed circus train that freed tigers that still live to this day
Tell me more, Jim.
I mean, the Escobar Hippos turned out to be real.
I wish I could, I was hanging with some locals outside of Quimixto, riding horses and smoking the local herb and it came up. Not a one day tourist thing, I hung for a week and my buddy six months. Fascinating, they mentioned seeing tigers and I said you mean puma or jaguar? Nope, tiger. Crazy.
I was raised in Hammond Indiana, and actually lived 2 blocks from Woodlawn cemetery. I live across the country now, but I'm just blown away that I had never heard of this event before now.
Same here! Never heard of it until now. Its weird seeing your town in one of his videos haha
@@RosinGoblin Totally! In fact, I lived on Chestnut Ave, and one street away were abandoned railroad tracks that we would use to walk to school, and I'm thinking that's where this happened.
@@Bughugger Wow, that's very possible! Find out, do some research. Let the rest of us know!!
@@Bughugger oh wow I'll have to check those tracks out sometime. I live on Olcott near the university. Small world
I was born and raised in Hammond too! Isn't that such a coincidence? I never heard of it either.
I started to see a pattern with these train disasters; a lot of death by impact and fire caused by ignorance, and the guy who's responsible for this always escape unharmed and were never punished.
Like every drunk-driving tragedy today
Ina-mogus
You could argue that this was all a human-factors incident, the driver had gotten little sleep in the previous 24 hours, as well as the meals and motion. Wasn't intentional negligence as is seen in a lot of these cases, so I wouldn't consider it to be reasonable to punish this person. Nowadays the justice system has become more a vengeance system, people want the closure of someone being blamed and punished. Though there sure are plenty of cases where someone very knowingly did something wrong yet got off free, which is unacceptable - usually because they're rich and powerful.
@@quillmaurer6563 Nope dude, falling asleep while conducting a train is 100% criminal negligence.
@@Transilvanian90 it is negligence, but criminally charging him wouldn't do much in terms of retribution
"The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus would suffer one of the worst tragedies it would ever endure."
I'm sorry, *one of?*
Exactly what I thought! What other shit went down?!? 🤣
Stay tuned, for the next episode of... Fascinating Horror
Read about "The Gran-Circus Norte Americano fire" or "1961 Niteroi Circus Fire". About shows and circus, the worst tragedy (mostly because it was a combination of crime and negligence). The official death toll is 503.
@@SecondAccountMP666 wasnt that the one where the main tent caught fire just after they pulled out the animal shows?
Apparently they got into a flood in 1913.
The camaraderie of show folk has always astounded me, but no more than in this story. It's truly the skill of a showman to grieve so terribly and still go on to preform again. Wonderful job FH
An overheated wheel bearing was called a "hotbox" and was a fairly common ocurrence before the advent of roller bearings for railroad bogeys. I've seen quite a few back in the 1950s and early 60s - one nighttime hotbox was glowing fiery red and smoke streamed backwards for 100s of yards. There was a trough full of oil which lubricated the oil-soaked felt pads wrapped around the bearing, and the oil often caught fire and burned wooden baxcars to the ground or caused derailments. The railroad worker's signal to those in the caboose was to stand holding their nose while pointing at the train going by so the train caould be stopped before disaster ensued. Roller bearings, trackside hotbox and dragging equipment detectors obviated the need for men on the ass end, and those jobs and the caboose went the way of the disnosaur.
Very interesting! I can't imagine the constant stress those men felt trying to advert disasters. That's an insanely stressful and dangerous job.
Great explanation, thank you. And I like your nick, good one! LOL.
This was so respectfully told, what a beautiful show of support they were given, what a sad tragedy so easily avoided :(
Wow the bit about showmen's rest is incredibly heart warming. The elephant's trunks lowered in respect and the idea they could have all been friends in another life brought a tear to my eye
Speaking of rail disasters, maybe you'd be interested in doing a video on the Granville Rail Disaster. In Granville, Sydney in 1977, a morning commuter train derailed, crashing into the supports of a bridge, which then collapsed, killing 84 and injuring another 213 people. It remains as Australia's worst railway disaster, and was apparently caused by poor fastening of the tracks.
Yes that would be a good one, so would the Whiskey Au Go Go fire in Brisbane once the currently running second inquest winds up.
The real cause of the crash was lack of maintenance on the locomotive 4620
“Then everything was quiet.”
Why did I think of, "And everything was still. Absolutely still", from the Magic Tree House books
I bet that silence was LOUD.
TOO Quiet
@@sketchyskies8531 you resurfaced some memories of mine
*we watched the video*
Would you consider taking a look at the Coalbrook mining disaster in South Africa? Killed more than 400 miners in the collapse and explosion of a coal mine in South Africa, 1960.
Wow, looking this up rn.
Not heard of this. Sounds horrific x
@@snogglewort1 It truly was. The more horrifying part is that this is nowhere near the largest mining disaster. Multiple others have happened from then-Rhodesia, China, Japan, etc. Mining today can be a dangerous job, it used to be MUCH more dangerous though.
These stories are so tragic, yet so beautifully executed. You do the victims justice in your heartfelt retellings so their stories may still be heard. I don't know about the vast majority of the events you cover and it means a lot to me to be able to learn about them in such a respectful way. Glad to have been here from the start and see the channel continuing on this path. Thank you.
Well said sir.
That is one sick train wreck. And the dedication of the surviving performers to rescue their fellow members is very brave and commendable. The grave site dedicated to those lost looks great.
For those (germans) who are wondering: Yes, it's the same Hagenbeck as in Hagenbecks-Tierpark.
Apparently, he pioneered the use of rewards to train animals instead of fear and the use of animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natural habitats. I mean, he also displayed human "savages", but not bad for the late 19th century.
@@odyssea-the-seeker Yeah. By today’s standards we’d judge Carl Hagenbeck and his family (they were exotic animal traders, after all), but by the standards of his day, they were considered very progressive.
Danke
Thank you, I was wondering if there is a connection
Me, thinking, "how did the train not even slow down?? Was the engineer asleep?"
*Watches further*
"..oh."
Fatigue kills, folks. A 15 minute powernap can save your life.
@@GlennDavey Unless you take it whilst driving...
Seems like there should have been a rule about keeping two people on watch in case one fell asleep, like the one about ensuring more than one pilot in the cockpit of planes now. Of course, I know why rules like that didn’t exist back then, but it just seems like common sense.
It's just a train. What could go wrong?
@@TymP321 *nervously points to video*
Ah yes, My favorite thing on a Tuesday morning.
Have you ever thought about doing the Stardust Nightclub Fire in Dublin, Ireland, I think the total death count was 83, and still affects the vast majority of the Irish population.
Qxir does a great vid on this.
The Hither Green Train Wreck on November 5, 1967 almost killed “Bee Gee” singer Robin Gibb. 49 people died and he was a hero rescuing many of the passengers.
I love the pictures of the old circus, especially the big top with the side show tent next to it.
This has to be my favorite video so far 🥺 I got goosebumps learning about how the other circuses shared performers and crew. Such triumph of the human spirit.
I doubt this comment will be seen by the video's creator, but I will try anyway. I am a traveling roadie for festivals, essentially a modern circus laborer. Our industry's history is not often discussed, and when it is discussed it's still discussed as a freaky sideshow. I had never heard of this story, nor of the showman's league, nor the cemetery. Thank you for telling this story so compassionately, thank you for honoring the traveling family with your informative presentation. I've seen with your channel that no matter who you're speaking about, fancy rich people in burning theaters or nameless, estateless laborers from small villages Somewhere Else, you always speak about human life, loss, and fear with great respect and dignity. Every video of yours I've seen, it's clear how much time you've taken to ponder over the human lives and how to respectfully present their drama without being dramatic yourself. Your nuance is valued. Thank you for telling this story, I'd love to hear more from you about American travelers/ stage crews, especially since many of us don't know our own history and legacy.
The closing lines of this episode are quite poignant, beautiful words.
Electric and diesel trains have the "dead man's handle", that stops the train if pressure from an awake / alive human isn't put on it. This dates back to the very early days of such trains, I suppose steam engines didn't have them because there'd be at least two men in the cab (fast expresses had a whole team of firemen who took turns, sometimes there was even a corridor through the coal, and bedrooms in the first carriage for them), so you'd expect one to wake the other!
From memory, the 'dead man's handle' was introduced after a fatal wreck on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. The motorman had tied the regulator down, it is believed so that he could spy on a courting couple in the leading compartment. For whatever reason he was leaning, facing backwards out of the cab, and didn't see an approaching bridge. With no one in the cab and the regulator tied down, the train ran on, pitching into the back of a preceding stationary train....
Sadly it wasn't unknown for an engine driver to nod off, even briefly, at the regulator, long enough to miss signals. The Charfield, Gloucestershire disaster is a classic example. And it still happens now, with motor vehicles.
@@johndavies9270 Nodding off has also caused at least one major plane crash that I'm aware of. See Colgan Air Flight 3407, which went down in upstate New York in 2009.
@@hamsterama Technically, they hadn't actually nodded off to a state of unresponsiveness, but acute fatigue was a major factor in that accident, to be sure.
That accident was also a huge wakeup call, no pun intended, to the punishing work schedules and crazy low pay in the regional airline industry.
@@daviddunsmore103 That's true, the pilots didn't actually fall asleep. But imagine trying to drive a car when you've barely slept. Now, imagine flying a commercial airplane. It's too bad that people had to die before any action took place. There was an episode of the show Mayday about this crash, that aired on National Geographic and the Weather Channel. I recall that in the episode, the captain was reported to have been seen sleeping in the pilot's lounge of the airport, right before he flew. By the way, from that show, I learned that one of the passengers that died in the Colgan Air crash was the widow of a 9/11 victim. Talk about bad luck!
@William Marten Steam engines can most definitely be quickly turned on and off, you just change the amount of steam being admitted to the pistons via the valves. The boiler is the part that takes a long time to build up steam pressure, and a long time to cool down. When steam is not being used from the boiler, it is vented to atmosphere to maintain a working pressure and prevent it from exploding.
I knew there was a decent reason to stay up until 4 am on a Monday night and here it is.
I wanted to thank you for doing this. My great grandparents worked the rail lines and I grew up with the stories from the circus train wreck!
You should check out the Ozone Disco fire that took place in the Philippines on 1996. 162 died and most of them had just graduated from college and were celebrating. They found the bodies piled up waist high in front of the door which were stupidly designed to just open inwards.
That's quite common that a nightclub is designed with a doorway that makes exits difficult. It's to stop patrons from skipping out on their tabs. The Station nightclub fire in Long Island also had bodies piled up 5-6 high in a narrow entry doorway at the end of a slim corridor. It makes me sick to think of it.
"We who gave you laughter and cheers now bring you sorrow and tears." I think this is on a Showmen's Rest marker but cannot verify.
I cannot imagine what must have been going through Oscar Timms mind when the other train just kept barreling along.
I thought perhaps it would be a more complicated reason, something long the lines of Leslie Newson. So much tragedy among heartwarming assistance from other circuses!
Showman's rest is so beautiful. I'm so so glad you covered this. I love when you read first hand accounts and I certainly wouldn't be upset to hear more per video.
I look forward to your covering of the Surfside collapse when we have more answers.
I wonder how many of us had this channel as our first thought when it happened. I feel SO bad for all those people, so I don't mean to sound flippant. But it does still somehow amuse me that so many of us think of him first when we see stuff these days.
I was watching a video that began with a dude driving to the roof of a parking garage, and all I could think was "Hell no, man, get off there!"
This seems to be the agreed-upon cause, at least for now;
"Long-term degradation of reinforced concrete support structures in the underground garage due to water penetration and corrosion of the reinforcing steel is being considered as a potential factor in, or cause of, the collapse. The issues had been reported in 2018 and noted as "much worse" in April 2021. A $15 million program of remedial works had been approved at the time of the collapse."
I actually thought of FH when I heard about the condo collapse. It would be interesting to hear him talk about it! Especially since it happened so recently and it’s still even ongoing with 4 more bodies pulled out today.
But oof, I feel so terrible for the people involved. 😭
@@jensaugust743 And that $15 million would never have fixed the underlying, biggest issue: Not enough rebar placed in support columns. Severely weakening them as a deviation from original design. Even without rust, it was carrying a load too heavy.
I was just thinking about how I was waiting for it to be a Fascinating Horror video
I am quite heartened by how little known and forgotten tragedies from my little corner of the world are remembered by this channel.
You know I completely forgot that you upload on Tuesdays so this was a nice surprise
I 4got as well about it being Tuesday's... I was freaking out yesterday like WTF 😂
There is a channel called Faces of the Forgotten that wanders around cemeteries, he does a whole episode on this that is very very good!
Have to check that out. I'm working on my genealogy and came across a grave marker (Find a Grave) with the dates rubbed off, the name of the person I was looking for, but the inscription said "9 years old". No way to tell if she was the daughter of the person I was researching or not. Records back in the early 1800s were often poorly kept. (Except New York. I swear they took a census every 5 years and stored them very carefully.)
@@sophierobinson2738 I’ve been working on my genealogy this last year too. I’m a Mormon in Utah and the church has such amazing records! I found the passenger manifest for the steamer they came across from England which was pretty cool. I also found out my family was baptized by John Smith himself which I thought was kinda cool (I’m not active but I’m sure it would be excellent bragging rights at church haha). I love find a grave, and walking around cemeteries is my happy place
Love this channel. The narrator is perfect for these stories. Hi from Australia xxx
I'm from this area and was wondering if you'd ever cover this on your channel. The respect and sensitivity you show when telling these tragic stories is always wonderful to see, thank you. Very well done.
the solidarity by the other circuses is really heartwarming
Honestly this is the best PSA channel on RUclips! Packaged in a eerie and thoughtful manner. Love it!
I’m meant to be studying but it can wait for this video.
Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing about this tragedy. It’s so sad that those who labored to bring a smile to others’ faces were lost in near anonymity due to tragedy.
It's interesting how things like this are forgotten. I lived in the area my whole life and never heard anything about this.
Thank you for your channel. I truly appreciate your thoughtful approach of presenting historically accurate tragedies in an approach that is both educational and optimistic in the lessons learned.
You should make a video about the ICE train crash in Germany in 1998. That was some serious freak carnage.
do you mean Eschede?
Wow, I'm looking this up rn
Or the Transrapid magnetic levitation train crash.
I'm... not sure about this. I was nowhere near a train this day, but I still have memories about it (I'm German.). The crash is still very in peoples minds and the families of the deceased still meet up yearly in Eschede. But I think Fascinationg Horror could do a sensible video about Eschede.
(That said, hey Fascinating Horror, if you ever do a video about Eschede, I can help translate sources! For example the English Wikipedia article isn't very good, if you need help with the German one, just contact me!)
It's not often that I get emotional over stories of circus tragedies. That final memorial at the end was so touching, though. It's so moving I was brought to tears. Such a beautiful tribute to those who died traveling to bring smiles and joy entertainment to people back in the day.
I knew I had heard of this story before! It's mentioned in the documentary "Killer Legends" when discussing the fear of clowns and where some of the fear originates from. One of the clowns they discussed was Joe Coyle (one of the performers that survived; I believe he might be the one in white at the 0:26 mark) and how he took on a sadder and darker persona after losing his wife and children in this collision.
“Circus train wreck” sums up my life pretty well
Me, too.
Underrated comment
I went to Showmen's Rest with a group of people from Richard Crowe's haunted tours around the Chicago area. One of our stops was there. I remember just feeling really sad looking at the headstones. A lot were unmarked but one stood out from the others. I was an unknown female and people would leave flowers for her on Mother's Day. Not sure if they did that with all the female headstones but I just remember hearing the story from a local. I grew up in Hammond and the Circus was always a big thing there at the Civic Center. I remember hearing stories about that awful night that took the lives of people and animals.
I love how respectful you are when describing these tragedies. Most channels seem to go for shock value but you instead are very careful and respectful to the victims. You got a new subscriber.
Makes you think, even if the circus train hadn't stopped, it moving at only 25mph means the troop train would still of caught up to it, and the accident still happening.
Yeah, I wonder about the speed of the troop train. Even without being stopped, having the impact happen at troop-train mph - 25 mph the impact would have been bad. 😥
True, but it would have had fewer casualties
You're right...he was asleep, it would have happened regardless
It's like a really sadistic math problem. If a circus train leaves a station doing 25 mph and an unladen troop train leaves on the same track traveling faster than 25 mph, how many circus performers will die when the troop train catches up?
Interesting and superbly told story about such a tragic incident. I can’t adequately express how awesome this channel is.
Growing up in Hammond, this was always a story my grandparents would talk about, interesting to hear what really happened.
Your videos are informative and retain respect while still being interesting. You deserve a tv series.
The ShowMans rest made me way sadder than I thought it would. It’s such a touching remembrance to those who have passed away
Making my way through your video library and this is for sure one of the ones that made me cry…
There's always a dislike on the video, even when it's new. It's hilarious to me that one one turned notifications on just to dislike every video. Now that's some dedication
Sadly there is a trend out there to be the first to dislike a video. And other sad people might of taken a dislike to something said or shown in a previous video and then seen it as their mission in life to dislike every subsequent video from the channel. Usually just loosers with nothing else better to do with their time than to troll people.
@@justandy333 it doesn't effect the RUclipsr at all. YT doesn't stop recommending the videos because of dislikes. If anything it's a good thing because he gets the view
@Don’t get Banned! 😂😂😂
@Don’t get Banned! I suggest you go back and re-read what I said. You've clearly misunderstood. Somehow you've drawn a conclusion that disliking it makes them a looser. No, this is not what I said. As to my insecurities, well, you brought it up which would suggest its at the forefront you your mind, not mine.
@@emapheonix I agree
You always give tribute at the end. It’s so simple, yet beautiful.
Please never change that intro/background music!
Great video. I appreciate how respectful and sensitive you are when telling these stories. Keep it up!
This is why you never drive alone.
No matter the vehicle.
Any vehicle is a deadly projectile, simply by nature of kinetic energy and momentum.
Today trains have deadman's switches to prevent this kind of accident.
6:37 Circus Strongman: "The rest of you start clearing the little pieces! That big bit in the middle calls to me strangely!"
Oh my goodness- I‘ve been HOPING you would cover this, ever since your last circus tragedy video reminded me of this horrible incident!!❤️💔
God, these videos are so good. You’re like a morbid defunctland. Can’t get enough.
“They were still made mostly of wood” oh nooooo - I’m not even halfway in and I’ve got chills, another excellent upload as always
This was exceptionally well written. You usually do a great job, this is outstanding.
I love these videos. I learn so much of historic events i never even knew take place. If i can recommend two events id love to know more about its Estonia and the discotheque fire in Göteborg, Sweden in 1998.
The music you use in your videos is so perfect, very ominous with a sense of foreboding.
Remember, Never Sleep on the Job. Because something like THIS will happen.
This is why dead-mans-switches are a thing. Humans are not infallible and if you're tired, there needs to be a backup safety mechanism.
The train at 4:27 is the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The car behind the tender is the "Francis L Suter," a Pennsylvania Railroad business car that I used to own. It was four years old at the time of the Hammond wreck. You can see more of it in the channel PRR7503.
I remember seeing circus wagons with the Hagenbach Wallace name on the side during Milwaukee's Schlitz Circus Parade every summer. Trains would bring the wagons down from Baraboo, where they are housed. I think they used every team of draft horses from the surrounding counties to pull them. Those were the days.
I remember seeing those parades!
I find your channel fascinating, yes! Here's a topic suggestion: The fire at the Barnum Museum in New York City in 1865.
You should look into the Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster. It occurred on August 6, 1903 in Durand, Mi.
I am a television RUclips viewer so I don’t comment on many videos but man- this one got me. I love your stuff, always. But the end of this video actually made me cry. 🥲
The steel troop train sliced through their train/ carriage like a hot knife slicing through butter and split the train in half.....holy shit..
Fascinating Horror, you do a great job on the history and the events that you cover in your videos, well spoken. And as for this story, that was most definitely a terrible tragedy.
I work for a rail museum. I have heard stories from employees who are not given to imagination yet many of them claim this stretch of track has a different vibe. Sometimes people have heard animals, the voices of people shouting in fright or screaming, and the smell of smoke when nothing is around.
The enormity of content, skill, and tasteful delivery you put into these videos is exemplary.
I'm from Hammond so I was hoping you were going to cover this one day! My grandparents are actually buried in the same cemetery where Showmen's Rest is, though I've never had the opportunity to go visit the memorial myself.
Love waking up first thing in the morning to see a new video. Always rushing to watch it before anything else.
If anyone can get to Showmen’s Rest, I recommend it. It’s incredibly powerful. This particular one is located in Forest Park, IL.
What a touching documentary! thank you for sharing this historical event with us...
I've paid my respect at Showmans Rest many times. It's only 15 minutes from me.
This channel has slowly became one of my favorites. I love hidden gem channels like this one here
I'm not surprised something called "Hammond" was involved in a wreck
i wonder how many times Hammond goes home not riding a air ambulance
@@operator5352 definitely more times than hes driven a Rimac home for the day🤷♂️😂😂
Well bringing dinosaurs back to life didn’t turn out so well either 🤷♀️
It May be a coincidence with Hammond but at least there where no Clarkson
HAAAAMOOONDD!!!!
I definitely thought Fascinating Horror covered this before, but then I realized I watch another channel that exclusively talks about train accidents, and I think that was them.
That said, rather than a diss, I feel like that's a complement to Fascinating Horror. As much as I enjoy the other channel, devoting an entire channel specifically to train accidents (not just trains, not just accidents. Just train accidents) is getting pretty... niche?, so the fact that *that's* the only other place I've ever heard of this and the fact that you give enough detail that I honestly couldn't tell that you didn't spend all your time researching train accidents for a living says something about the quality.
I literally live at the area where this happened, hearing town names around me feels surreal
Literally
I pass by Showman’s Rest all the time. Never knew the history behind it. Thank you, kindly!