The Deerfield railway accident occurred on April 7, 1886, outside of Deerfield, Massachusetts. 11 people were killed after "the outer rail and a portion of the track gave way", which caused Passenger Train No. 35 to fall down an embankment bordering the Deerfield River, approximately downstream of Bardwell's Ferry Bridge.
Around 4:45pm, Passenger Train No. 35 departed North Adams, Massachusetts, for Boston with 48 people on board, nine of whom were crew. The train was traveling on the Hoosac Tunnel line, which was owned and maintained by the state and operated by the Fitchburg Railroad. The train was made up of an engine, tender, two baggage cars (one express car and one post office car), a smoking car (belonging to the Fitchburg Railroad), two passenger coaches (one belonging to Fitchburg the other to the Troy and Boston Railroad), and a parlor car.
Shortly before 6pm, the outer rail and a portion of the track between the Bardwell's Ferry and West Deerfield stations gave way. The locomotive was wrecked and cars were thrown down an embankment. Three of the cars caught fire almost immediately. All of the cars except for the Troy and Boston coach were destroyed. All but one of the 48 people on the train were injured and 11 were killed instantly or died from their injuries. H.P. Littlejohn, the engineer, although mortally injured, crawled back up to the tracks and walked approximately to flag down any approaching train to avoid further incident; he died the following day.
A special train containing physicians, reporters, and others who could assist was dispatched from Greenfield, Massachusetts, shortly after 10pm. The steepness of the embankment made rendering aid very difficult. The injured were transported to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and the deceased to Greenfield.
The Massachusetts Railroad Commission found that "the cause of the disaster was a slide of part of the embankment". The embankment slide was caused by three construction faults:
Approximately two hours before the accident, a freight train had passed over the section of track in question without incident, and a track walker who had passed over the location approximately 45 minutes later saw no indication of a problem.
The commission added that there was "no evidence or suggestion of any fault of negligence or otherwise on the part of the Fitchburg Railroad Company, or of any one in its service."