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This book revisits what came to be known as the Angola Horror, when the New York Express derailed in an upstate New York village on December 18, 1867, claiming the lives of approximately fifty people. It recounts what happened that day, and the days that followed, at Angola. It also examines why the New York Express derailment, ranked as one of the worst railroad accidents in American history, continues to occupy a powerful place in the American mind. This prologue discusses the role played by the day's newspapers and the oft-sensationalistic journalists in turning the scenes at Angola into indelible images and phrases. It also considers why the Angola Horror commanded enormous public attention; the wreck, for example, spoke directly to the ways in which Americans of the period viewed the railroads.

This epilogue highlights some of the lessons that have been learned by the Angola Horror. It begins by comparing the New York Express tragedy with the Ashtabula accident of December 29, 1876. It then explains how the scenes and stories of the disaster at Big Sister Creek became ingrained in public consciousness, citing the role of newspapers and magazines in this. It also shows that Angola taught men and women what to fear with regards to railroad travel and explains why Angola and its victims were forgotten for so long.

This chapter discusses the first reports of the New York Express disaster at Angola that were carried by different newspapers on December 19 and 20, 1867. Men and women learned about the facts of the accident that had happened the previous afternoon from the morning dailies. Newspaper headlines trumpeted the derailment with exclamations and adjectives. News accounts were filled with descriptions of the scenes in the Big Sister Creek bridge, focusing on the inferno in the last car, the search for survivors, and the efforts of Angolan villagers to aid the injured. Journalists played a leading role in painting the disaster as the Angola Horror. This chapter considers the inaccuracies in the news reports about the Angola wreck as well as the challenges faced by Buffalo's daily newspapers in describing its aftermath.

This chapter focuses on debates sparked by the Angola Horror. The winter of 1867–1868 became known for railroad accidents. In the months after the inquest, the jury concluded its investigation and released a verdict, six more incidents played out around the country in which railroad passenger coaches caught fire during derailments, collisions, or equipment malfunctions, causing injury or death to passengers. Set into that string of events, the Angola wreck commanded the attention of both public and press, overshadowing the other incidents and becoming a watchword in the nation for the dangers of railroad travel. This chapter considers how Angola became a rallying cry for other people to demand accountability and the media to call for safety improvements and innovations, including better oversight of the railroads.

This postscript provides an overview of what happened to some of the important figures in the Angola Horror after the tragedy. It begins with John Davison Rockefeller, who went on to become one of the richest men in the world and then turns to Charles Lobdell, the newspaper editor, who never made it to his Christmas wedding but whose memory lived on in the imaginations of those who knew him. It then looks at Henrietta Bennett and Dr. Romaine J. Curtiss, who fell in love with each other and got married (sadly, their marriage did not last long); Christiana Gates Lang, who recovered from her injuries and later remarried; Josiah Southwick and his wife, Huldah, who moved to Montana in 1892; and Benjamin Franklin Sherman, who stepped down from the post of conductor. The chapter also looks at what happened to the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, which became part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway a little over two years after the wreck.

This chapter discusses the changes that occurred in 1868–1893 after the Angola Horror. It begins with George Westinghouse Jr.'s invention of the air brake that could stop railroad trains quickly and reliably by harnessing compressed air. Westinghouse, a young mechanic, received the first patent on his air brake on April 13, 1869. Within the next few years, this air brake became a standard appliance on passenger trains in the United States. Writers began to use air brakes when crafting plot points in their novels and stories. This chapter also considers some of the changes to state and federal legislation aimed at making railroad travel safer for the American public in the wake of Angola, along with pleas to members of Congress and other lawmakers by people whose lives had been affected by the condition of the country's railroads.