Just before midnight, the night mail train from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh broke an axle about fifteen miles from its destination and derailed near present-day Wall, Pennsylvania.  Several carriages ran down a fifteen foot embankment but only five of the eighty sleeping passengers aboard suffered minor injuries.  The mail carriage caught fire, however, when a stove overturned and several of the mail pouches burned.  (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"Railroad Accident near Pittsburgh," New York Times, April 4, 1861 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Crime/Disasters

    How to Cite This Page: "Night train from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh derails, injuring five passengers and damaging the mail car," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hddev.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/35872.