At 2:53am on the 22nd of September, 1993, the worst crash in Amtrak history happened on a bridge in Alabama.
Eight minutes earlier heavy barges had collided with the bridge, causing a deformation of the train tracks.
The train was running late, as it had been held in New Orleans for some repair work. Had it not been, it would have passed over the bridge twenty minutes before the damage occurred.
47 people were killed in the wreck, with another 103 injured.
In Times Gone By... 