The snow started falling early in the morning of December 29, 1876, but by early afternoon the weather had turned into a fearful combination of cold temperatures, strong, fierce winds, and snow — a lot of snow.

Meanwhile, the 159 passengers aboard the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Train № 5 didn't let the horrible winter weather swirling outside their train, which was more commonly called the Pacific Express, dampen their enthusiasm for enjoying the holiday season and spreading good cheer and joy.

However, as the Pacific Express approached the village of Ashtabula, Ohio, only a few moments were needed for the joyous times to turn to absolute, sheer horror for the passengers as the Pacific Express crossed over the Ashtabula River bridge.

Many of the 159 passengers aboard the Pacific Express perished when eleven passenger cars, along with the trailing locomotive (Columbia) and pieces of the collapsing bridge dropped about 80 feet onto the frozen river.

Although many passengers were already dead or injured, it nevertheless was only the beginning of the horror for the passengers who survived the fall to the frozen Ashtabula River.

Some of these passengers were crushed as tons of metal and wood from other cars and train parts smashed down on their wrecked cars.

But even that wasn't the end of the unimaginable horror for the passengers still alive — particularly the passengers who were trapped in the wreckage. The overturned coal-fired potbelly stoves and oil lamps started a series of small fires that quickly grew into a huge fiery hell on the ice. This fiery hell approached the trapped passengers with startling speed and of the 92 passengers who died in the disaster, more than half (48) perished in these flames — including an unknown number who were still alive and trapped in the wreckage as they saw the flames approach and knew they were about to die in the fiery hell.

In addition to being a story about a night of unimaginable horror, it was also a story of the sheer determination that many passengers, most notably Marion Shepard, had to survive despite the odds. It's also a story of the people in and around Ashtabula without whose help the number of dead passengers and crew likely would have been much higher.

At the same time, unfortunately, the Ashtabula Disaster was also a story of greed, cutting corners in construction, guilt, accusations, suicide, and possibly even a murder.

The 1876 Ashtabula Disaster also includes testimony given by Charles Collins, Amasa Stone, and other key figures, before The Legislature of Ohio Joint Committee Investigation that investigated the cause of the disaster.