Editing Ashtabula, Ohio (section)

===Tragedies===
[[File:Ashtabula Bridge disaster.jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of the 1876 [[Ashtabula River railroad disaster]]]]
Construction of railroads connected Ashtabula to a national network that contributed to its success as a port. On December 29, 1876, one of the nation's most notorious rail accidents occurred, known as the [[Ashtabula River railroad disaster]], Ashtabula Horror, or Ashtabula bridge disaster. As [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway]] Train No. 5, ''The Pacific Express,'' crossed the Ashtabula River bridge, the [[Howe truss]] structure collapsed, dropping the second locomotive and 11 passenger cars into the frozen creek {{convert|150|ft|m}} below. A fire was started by the car stoves, and of the 159 people on board, 92 were killed and 64 were injured.

A [[Train ferry|rail ferry]], also named ''[[Ashtabula (ferry)|Ashtabula]],'' used to run from Ashtabula to [[Port Burwell, Ontario]].<ref name=MaritimeHistoryAshtabulaFerry>
{{cite news
| url         = http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/61623/data?n=1
| title       = Ashtabula (Ferry), U203071, sunk by collision, 18 September 1958
| publisher   = [[Maritime History of the Great Lakes]]
| access-date  = November 14, 2011
| quote       = Sunk in collision with steamer BEN MORELL in harbor at Ashtabula, Ohio, September 18, 1958.
}}
</ref> The ferry was launched in 1906 and operated successfully for many decades. It collided with the steamer [[Ben Moreell (steamer)|''SS Ben Morell'']] in September 1959, causing the ferry to sink.<ref name=MaritimeHistoryAshtabulaFerry/>

On August 10, 1958, a natural gas leak was ignited by electrical equipment or lighting in Andover, Ohio a neighboring town. The resulting explosion destroyed a restaurant and five other buildings. 21 people were killed, and 15 injured.<ref name="google21">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5y1kAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5XsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6842,1721328&dq=gas+main+fire&hl=en|title=The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search|access-date=October 18, 2014}}</ref>