History

By all accounts, August 6, 1860, started as a typical Monday. But, by the time Benjamin Bartle eased the locomotive W. B. Munford onto the bridge crossing the Cumberland River in Clarksville, Tennessee, he was entering the annals of history. His train was the first to cross the bridge, a major hurdle in building a vital portion of the rail line linking Memphis and Louisville.

Around 4 p.m. on February 10, 1870, locomotive No. 9, a Norris & Son-built 4-4-0 steam locomotive, was pulling a freight train over the Red River trestle roughly near Clarksville, Tenn., when tragedy struck.