This is the “Pre-production” trailer for the film Engineering Tragedy:
Engineering Tragedy: The Ashtabula Train Disaster will be the first documentary ever produced on the worst train and bridge disaster of the 19th century, an event that shocked the nation and sparked a national debate on transportation and public safety. The engineering and structural failures that caused the sudden collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade took down the most luxurious train of the day: a train that was considered the “Titanic” of its time. The accident that cost the lives of ninety-seven people and injured seventy-five others is not widely known, having been lost in the pages of history. Shot for distribution by NETA and APT to 368 Public Television Stations, this film explores the events surrounding the disaster that occurred in Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29, 1876 during a raging blizzard. We will cover the engineering, construction, and collapse of the Ashtabula Bridge, the treacherous conditions that hampered the rescue attempts of trapped passengers, and the ensuing investigations that prompted new national safety standards for the railroads. Public outcry also forced the United States Congress to pass new bridge building and inspection laws that apply even today. In a strange twist of fate and intrigue, the bridge disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroads chief engineer, and the eventual suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the president of the railroad and builder of the Ashtabula Bridge. By understanding our past, we can build better bridges to our future.