At 6 p.m. on Aug. 11, 1880, over 1,000 daytrippers left Atlantic City on two trains after a pleasant excursion to the shore, bound for the return trip to Camden.
Because it was a single-track line, the two charter trains were supposed to pull onto a siding at Mays Landing to permit an eastbound express to pass. As rain fell the first train stopped, but the second didn’t, causing a catastrophic crash as the rear cars of the first train were crushed and the second engine’s boiler exploded,…
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