Big Four Railroad Accident, February 23, 1900

The west span of the Big Four Railroad Bridge over the Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana, collapsed at 2:35 p.m. on 23 February 1900. The structure crumbled under the combined pressure of ice, the weight of Big Four Locomotive 96, and forty-nine freight cars. The train was en route to Terre Haute from Mattoon, Illinois, loaded with baled cotton, lumber, grain, paper, stove ovens, and general merchandise. Employees of the local waterworks company reported to the Terre Haute Gazette that the bridge was swaying moments before the accident. Fireman Dan Ruddell of Indianapolis died in the wreck