The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train Accident

3:52 a.m. June 22nd, 1918 - like many other nights the world slept as a train car pulled through the night. By morning it would be a new town, and the same routine of setting up a wonderland for children and adults alike.  The show would close, just to pull back out that next night, and onto the next town. But on this morning, nothing would be routine, and far from a land of wonder.

According to Wikipedia, in the early hours of that June morning;

"Alonzo Sargent was operating a Michigan Central Railroad troop train pulling 20 empty Pullman cars. He was aware that his train was closely following a slower circus train. Sargent, an experienced man at the throttle, had slept little if at all in the preceding 24 hours. The effects of a lack of sleep, several heavy meals, some kidney pills, and the gentle rolling of his locomotive are thought to have caused him to fall asleep at the controls.

At approximately 4 a.m., he missed at least two automatic signals and warnings posted by a brakeman of the 26-car circus train, which had made an emergency stop to check a hot box on one of the flatcars. The second train plowed into the caboose and four rear wooden sleeping cars of the circus train at a rail crossing known as Ivanhoe Interlocking[1] (5 1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) east of Hammond, Indiana) at an estimated speed of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). 

The circus train held 400 performers and roustabouts of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus. Most of the 86 who were killed in the train wreck perished in the first 35 seconds after the collision. Then, the wreckage caught on fire. Among the dead were Arthur Dierckx and Max Nietzborn of the Great Dierckx Brothers, a strongman act, and Jennie Ward Todd of The Flying Wards. There were also 127 injuries."

The scene was devastating and nothing short of a nightmare, for which they would never wake from. Not only did this become one of the most noted disasters in Circus history, but in railroad history as well.

I found this wonderful short documentary that puts this tragedy into such wonderful perspective, far better than what I could with words. Great job to the kids who created this. Cameron Kanczuzewski, Madelyn Kanczuzewski, Braden Huffman, Catherine Serianni and Patrice Serianni, homelearning students from South Bend, Mishawaka, and Wakarusa, Indiana.

Showmen's Rest

Five days after this horrific tragedy, a burial was set for those who had died, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. This section later became known as Showman's Rest. Many of those who were buried, were never formally identified, so they were buried together in one mass grave. This plot was paid for by Showman's League of America.

This section, surrounded by 5 elephant's in mourning posture, 56 are buried. For those that could not be identified, they each were affectionally given the best source of identification as possible. Among those, there are several "Unknown Male" and "Unknown Female." graves. Many of the dead were rousabouts who had only just began working as hired help. From city to city, the amount of help would vary. One grave is marked "Smiley", one "Baldy", and another "4 Horse Driver". A few were, though, identified. Those included two strongmen, Arthur Dierckx and Max Nietzborn of the "Great Dierckx Brothers". Also included was Jennie Ward Todd of "The Flying Wards" and the McDhu Sisters, known for aerial stunts and riding elephants.

No animals were killed in this horrific accident.

According to The Lineup, Showman's rest is still used today to inter deceased circus folk. "Buried within are clowns, trapeze artists, strongmen, bareback riders, acrobats, roustabouts, and, of course, the victims of one of the most tragic circus disasters in history."

The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Through the Years

The Tragedy