Does anyone know any updates on this? I want to go next week and see if I can find any gold that spilled in the river. Has anyone ever tried to look for it? Would any of the gold still be there in the river? Also I read somewhere about three guys robbing a bank in Canada and came to ohio. One man shot two of the men and buried the gold under a big oak tree. Does anyone have any whereabouts of where that might be? Or any updates/leads? Thanks
Ashtabula train wreck
- Thread starter OhioGuy45
- Start date
Sluice hunter
Greenie
- May 29, 2012
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hey ohioguy45 im in Wakeman. Lemmie know if you plan on going Id love to help! HH!
NOLA_Ken
Gold Member
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There's always the possibility that something is left there. I lived in Elyria years ago and found a lot of relics and coins in the Black River but there was never anything like that there. Good luck and let us know what you find!
Keppy
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- Nov 19, 2006
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All i can tell you about it is that a lot have looked for it here........... And if any one found it they were smart and never told any one............So that is it was never found................. Or it was found and never made known to any one............I checked it out and never found any thing....actually the gold was as told around here .... Buried around Fairport Harbor ohio close to Lake Erie on the banks of the Grand River under a old oak tree that is in Lake county........... About 10 miles west of Ashtabula........But ones have found old silver coins along Lake Erie shore south of Buffalo NY down to the Pa. line.. So that would be about the Lake Erie shore line from the town of North East Pa up to Buffalo NY...
Last edited:
cmbohio
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- Jul 9, 2012
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Hey ohio guy. I live in rootstown. And im ready to start hunting for this treasure as well.
from what i have read and others have talked about. it could have been part a really well planned
hiest. And like others have mentioned in other posts. the train was on fire for almost a day . so if it was there
it could be a huge piece of steel/gold/dirt/rock and whatever else would have melted together.
But i still think that its worth atleast a days search.
from what i have read and others have talked about. it could have been part a really well planned
hiest. And like others have mentioned in other posts. the train was on fire for almost a day . so if it was there
it could be a huge piece of steel/gold/dirt/rock and whatever else would have melted together.
But i still think that its worth atleast a days search.
ohiotreasure
Newbie
Hey i am new here and live about 45 minutes from Fairport harbor. So, if you are in Ohio and serious about searching for this GOLD. Just get in touch with me and "WE WILL FIND IT".
railroad-relic-hunter
Greenie
Hmmm, gold in the river? Well lets see now, how many of you have done actual research on the actual train/bridge disaster that happened Dec.29th 1876 at 7:28pm. Since tonight is the 136th anniversary of the disaster i thought it was fitting to join this forum plus having searched the wreck site for the past 10 years making several trips there each year. To get good insight on the wreck there are a couple good books out and the original one on the wreck published in 1877 by the Rev. Stephen Peet has been reprinted and can be found on Ebay. Another good book Bliss & Tragedy is very interesting and has a chapter by a local Ashtabula resident who grew up there that has hunted the site for years. I think he mentioned he found a melted gold pc. and a Canadian silver coin but that's it for any coins. In the day's following the wreck all the safes were recovered from the remains of the express/baggage cars.
Over the years i have collected old stereoviews photo's taken the morning after and weeks following the wreck along with the books and a old set of bridge plans from the doomed bridge. I've done my homework and have found some neat things there. You have to be persistant and be prepared to spend countless hours there and even then you may only find a few trinkets. Amongst that you will find alot of other trash from over the years. The only coin i have ever found there was a 1946 silver quarter. There are car parts,pcs. of copper tubing, auto thermostats, fishing sinkers,lures and even stones with iron content that will drive a detector crazy. Plus there are newer RR items such as spikes,track bolts,rail anchors, knuckles ect. I have found all that kind of stuff and even this summer on June 11 i spent 1 1/2 hours digging up a 500lb.railroad car drawhead from the river bed thinking it might have been a link & pin drawhead from one of the wrecked cars but it turned out to be a newer knuckle coupler drawhead from later than 1900 as the link & pin ones were outlawed and no longer used after 1900. I was disappointed and left it. On a return visit on Oct.22 guess what it was gone! Somebody who obviously doens't know RR iron probably thought it was from the train wreck and lugged it out of there or maybe scrap theives wanted it?
Yes it was a very hot fired that burned thru the night and melted silver,brass and other items from the train not alone what it did to the human remains that are interned in the town cemetary in a mass grave. So what can be found there today? I have had people passing by on my walks back to the site tell me "oh it's been hunted dry" is it? hmmm? For me the river gives up what it wants and to whom it wants when it wants to. I have found link & pin couplers,some complete,others bent and broken that were used from the 1850's up to the late 1800's,some undoubtably are from the wreck others not. I have found brass hardware from the RR coaches,some partially melted from the fire.I have found a few silver buttons,silver chain links,quite a bit of melted silver,a womans brass/silver plated buckle with most of the silver burnt off and it has a red color to it from the fire. Quite a bit of melted globs of brass,and lead. I've spent 8 hrs there sometimes and only came home with a few small pcs. I have taken other friends along with me with high dollar detectors and my good old Garrett GTA350 has always done better than there detectors.
I myself enjoy the peace and solitude of being there. One can also sense alot of sadness and suffering, maybe it's just knowing what happened there. Is there any gold there? I doubt it but you'll never know what you may find or not want to find? A friend of mine found a ring there last year wich was rather erie knowing where it might have come from. I had a person email me years back that said he grew up in Ashtabula and used to swim in the river at the wreck site and that he and other young boy's found a human pelvis bone one time while swimming. Almost 90 people died there that fateful night of the disaster many being burned beyond recognition. The site now looks nothing like it did back in 1876. All that remains of the original bridge are some sandstone bridge pier foundation stones under the far east arch of the 1904 concrete double arch bridge wich has high earthen fill on top covered with trees on the sides wich CSX trains still travel across.
May all the unfortunate souls aboard that fatefull train that night on Dec.29th 1876 rest in peace. For all others venturing there happy hunting for those who search for the past!
Over the years i have collected old stereoviews photo's taken the morning after and weeks following the wreck along with the books and a old set of bridge plans from the doomed bridge. I've done my homework and have found some neat things there. You have to be persistant and be prepared to spend countless hours there and even then you may only find a few trinkets. Amongst that you will find alot of other trash from over the years. The only coin i have ever found there was a 1946 silver quarter. There are car parts,pcs. of copper tubing, auto thermostats, fishing sinkers,lures and even stones with iron content that will drive a detector crazy. Plus there are newer RR items such as spikes,track bolts,rail anchors, knuckles ect. I have found all that kind of stuff and even this summer on June 11 i spent 1 1/2 hours digging up a 500lb.railroad car drawhead from the river bed thinking it might have been a link & pin drawhead from one of the wrecked cars but it turned out to be a newer knuckle coupler drawhead from later than 1900 as the link & pin ones were outlawed and no longer used after 1900. I was disappointed and left it. On a return visit on Oct.22 guess what it was gone! Somebody who obviously doens't know RR iron probably thought it was from the train wreck and lugged it out of there or maybe scrap theives wanted it?
Yes it was a very hot fired that burned thru the night and melted silver,brass and other items from the train not alone what it did to the human remains that are interned in the town cemetary in a mass grave. So what can be found there today? I have had people passing by on my walks back to the site tell me "oh it's been hunted dry" is it? hmmm? For me the river gives up what it wants and to whom it wants when it wants to. I have found link & pin couplers,some complete,others bent and broken that were used from the 1850's up to the late 1800's,some undoubtably are from the wreck others not. I have found brass hardware from the RR coaches,some partially melted from the fire.I have found a few silver buttons,silver chain links,quite a bit of melted silver,a womans brass/silver plated buckle with most of the silver burnt off and it has a red color to it from the fire. Quite a bit of melted globs of brass,and lead. I've spent 8 hrs there sometimes and only came home with a few small pcs. I have taken other friends along with me with high dollar detectors and my good old Garrett GTA350 has always done better than there detectors.
I myself enjoy the peace and solitude of being there. One can also sense alot of sadness and suffering, maybe it's just knowing what happened there. Is there any gold there? I doubt it but you'll never know what you may find or not want to find? A friend of mine found a ring there last year wich was rather erie knowing where it might have come from. I had a person email me years back that said he grew up in Ashtabula and used to swim in the river at the wreck site and that he and other young boy's found a human pelvis bone one time while swimming. Almost 90 people died there that fateful night of the disaster many being burned beyond recognition. The site now looks nothing like it did back in 1876. All that remains of the original bridge are some sandstone bridge pier foundation stones under the far east arch of the 1904 concrete double arch bridge wich has high earthen fill on top covered with trees on the sides wich CSX trains still travel across.
May all the unfortunate souls aboard that fatefull train that night on Dec.29th 1876 rest in peace. For all others venturing there happy hunting for those who search for the past!
Glassdigger
Jr. Member
- Apr 27, 2012
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The site has been hunted pretty hard over the years. A friend of mine has a real nice collection of artifacts from the river there. I got a cool little love knot ring there this summer.
truckinbutch
Silver Member
Darn fine post , RRH . What you going to do to top that post 
railroad-relic-hunter
Greenie
For those of you interested in seeing some older pictures of the bridge disaster site i've attached 2 old photo's i have in my collection. First is of a train testing the doomed bridge when it was built in 1865. The second photo is from around 1908 of the later and current b
ridge built in 1904 wich CSX trains still use today. Both photos are looking north towards the bridge.
ridge built in 1904 wich CSX trains still use today. Both photos are looking north towards the bridge.
railroad-relic-hunter
Greenie
Here is the other photo from around 1908.
railroad-relic-hunter
Greenie
And last a photo of the site taken this past summer on June 11, 2012 looking south towards the bridge.
Frankn
Gold Member
Railroad-Relic-Hunter, That was the best post I have seen in a long time. I would have only one hint to give you. To avoid having a picture cut a word in half, click The ENTER key twice just before you click on the picture icon. This forces a space between the type and picture.
Great job, Frank
Great job, Frank
railroad-relic-hunter
Greenie
Frank, Thank's for the nice comment and hint! I wondered why that happened after posting the pictures, i guess you can all tell i'm new to this website!
TribeTime24
Newbie
I live in Ashtabula and have heard there is still alot of train disasters stuff down there. Im actually going down tomorrow
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