William Henry Vanderbilt's involvement with early railroad…
November 1833 CE
William Henry Vanderbilt's involvement with early railroad development leads him to being involved in one of America's earliest rail accidents.
On November 11, 1833, he is a passenger on a Camden and Amboy train that derails in the meadows near Hightstown, New Jersey, when a coach car axle breaks because of a hot journal box.
He spends a month recovering from injuries that include two cracked ribs and a punctured lung.
Uninjured in this accident is former U.S. President John Quincy Adams, riding in the car ahead of the one that derailed.
Adams's son is killed in the accident.