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This chapter recounts what happened moments before the New York Express derailed, and specifically at 3:10 P.M. of December 18, 1867. It considers the experience of Josiah P. Hayward, one of the 200 passengers aboard the express train. It takes note of Hayward's apprehension on that day, even though he was used to railroad travel, and the unaccustomed precautions he had taken. To railroad travelers in the 1860s like Hayward, winter was widely known as “smash-up season.” Twelve hours and ten minutes before the New York Express would pass through Angola, residents of the region were suddenly awakened by the sensation of a small but unmistakable earthquake.

This chapter recounts what happened on December 18, 1867 starting at 10:20 A.M. as the Buffalo-bound New York Express left Cleveland and began to cruise through the village of Ashtabula. It begins by describing the bridge across the Ashtabula River and what people thought of the structure. It then compares the Ashtabula bridge to the Big Sister Creek bridge in Angola, noting that these two bridges allow a study in contrasts. It also provides a background on two young mothers aboard the New York Express, Emma Hurlburt Fisher and Christiana Gates Lang, and how taxing and exhausting train travel of the day was for passengers. Finally, it considers how railroads addressed the poor conditions on board their passenger cars. Finally, it looks at some of the things kept by passengers on board the New York Express.

This chapter recounted the events that transpired as the New York Express approached Buffalo. It begins by focusing on wood dealer Benjamin F. Betts, who successfully caught a ride despite the train being full, even overfull. It then turns to station agent and telegraph operator J. M. Newton, who received a telegram in his office in the Angola depot, from John Desmond, an assistant superintendent of the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, telling him about a change in the freight's original order. Newton told James Mahar, the switchman, about the change as he got ready for the approach of Benjamin Franklin Sherman's express. The chapter also provides a background on Josiah Southwick, a justice of the peace in Angola at the time.

This chapter discusses the delays encountered by the New York Express as it traveled on the way to Buffalo. It begins by focusing on conductor Benjamin Franklin Sherman, who was in charge of the train for the leg of its journey to Buffalo, and Gilbert W. Smith, the forward brakeman. It then considers the reaction of passengers to Sherman's voice as he ordered them to board the train. It attributes the delays to a mechanical breakdown with another train along the route and highlights Sherman's efforts to bring the already behind-time express train to its final destination in Buffalo by 6 P.M. The chapter also provides a background on three young men from Pennsylvania who were among the train's passengers: Edward T. Metcalf, William W. Towner, and J. Alexander Marten.

This chapter recounts what happened on December 18, 1867, starting at 6:50 A.M. It tells the story of John Davison Rockefeller, an up-and-coming young businessman from Cleveland who was supposed to board the New York Express but missed the train because he was late, escaping a likely death in the process. It also provides a background on some of the passengers of the New York Express, which provides a window showing the traveling public on the nation's railways in the late 1860s. Finally, it reflects on Rockefeller's attempt to run after the departing train down the platform of Cleveland's Union Station, to no avail.

This chapter focuses on the days of mourning for the victims of the New York Express wreck. The bodies of the Angola dead were hardly cleaned, though no one was able to explain why. As wives, parents, children, and friends slowly filtered into one of the room set aside for the dead, a room full of coffins, gasps and cries could be heard from every corner. But they were not the only ones who wanted to gain entrance to the viewing rooms. Hundreds of people without any connection to the train wreck were also hoping to experience the aftermarth of the tragedy first hand. This chapter also describes the atmosphere during the public funeral for the unnamed victims of the Angola wreck which was held on December 22, 1867 (those bodies were later buried in a Buffalo cemetery).

This chapter focuses on the coroners' inquests held from late December 1867 to early January 1868 to determine the cause of the New York Express derailment. Coroner J. I. Richards appointed an inquest jury to investigate the circumstances of the wreck, which included taking testimony from eyewitnesses to the disaster and others involved with the New York Express and Buffalo and Erie Railroad. Basing its evidence mainly on the testimony of expert witnesses who were also Buffalo and Erie's employees, the jury exonerated the company in total. This chapter discusses the inquest proceedings and the public's reaction to the jury's verdict.

This chapter recounts how the New York Express's last two cars fell into the icy gorge below the Big Sister Creek bridge. Running after the train, James Mahar did not stop to look at what had occurred at the site of the derailment. The frog's curved iron pieces had struck a wheel on the left-hand side of the back truck, throwing the truck off kilter. Passengers on the train could not see what was happening on the rails. How strongly they felt the concussion of the derailment depended on where they sat. The cars of the express then began to shudder as they rolled along the track. Robert J. Dickson, an engineer working for the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, decided to jump from the moving train, which had already traveled 1,230 feet with derailed back wheels.

This chapter describes the rescue efforts carried out at the height of the New York Express disaster in Angola. When he arrived on the scene at Big Sister Creek, Dr. Romaine J. Curtiss immediately realized that the wounded and the dying would need hospitals. He decided to build makeshift ones out of the homes of the nearest Angola families. Railroad accidents posed challenges for doctors and nurses in the nineteenth century, as train wrecks were often difficult disaster scenes to reach. The Angola wreck occurred on a winter's day, just as daylight was about to fade. This chapter considers some of the problems encountered by Curtiss and the citizens working alongside him as they tried to help the victims. It also looks at the role played by Josiah Southwick and his wife, Huldah, who turned their home into something like an “army hospital” for the victims.

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 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 chapter narrates how the New York Express derailed as it neared the Big Sister Creek bridge just east of Angola at 3:11 P.M. The train ran over the frog connected to the main line, and passengers in the coach cars did not see the plume of grit rise into the air behind the rear wheels. James Mahar rushed down the track bed, running as fast as he could in the wake of the train, and witnessed the rear car rise and then drop, followed by a plume of gravel and ice. Mahar knew that a derailment was about to happen as he watched the back of the train, which seemed to increase speed as it pulled away. The rear truck of the last car was certainly off the rail, but the train was still moving.

This chapter recounts how the New York Express's derailment, which caused its last two cars to fall into the icy gorge below the Big Sister Creek bridge, turned into a horrific disaster. The Toledo car, crushed into three feet of wood and metal, landed nearly upright against the embankment on the bridge's northern side. The live coals dumped around the car's interior turned some parts of the wreckage into flames, which began to spread, moving over bodies, bags, and debris. As the victims' bodies contorted in the fiery car, they also charred. As the fire crackled, sounds of human suffering emanated from the car. It was a scene of “horrors…piled upon horrors.” This chapter describes the rescue efforts initiated by residents of Angola, including Henry Bundy and Josiah Southwick, to help the injured passengers of the train wreck.

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.