Overview
The Louisville-bound No. 2 express train on the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad plunged through the Budds Creek bridge near Palmyra, Tennessee, after the span gave way beneath the train. The locomotive and several cars fell into the creek bed, and fire soon consumed much of the wreckage. Five people were killed, including engineer Eugene Riley and fireman Charles Shields, both of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The disaster drew national attention and intensified scrutiny of the railroad’s equipment, bridges and postwar financial condition.
Quick Facts
- Date
- 1:00 a.m., July 28, 1869