The 1894 Rock Island railroad wreck occurred when a locomotive pulling two passenger cars was derailed on August 9, 1894, in Lincoln, Nebraska, killing eleven people.

[1] Upon impact, the engine burst, spilling hot coals on both the train and the wooden trestle, and soon flames covered both.

The flames mounted high in the heavens coloring the entire southern sky a brilliant carmine while the moonbeams fell upon the glowing mass below from which mortal shrieks of agony and pain were heard to issue.

Bills organized an effort to rescue other passengers with the help of Jay McDowell and crewman Harry Foote.

[1] As Bills and McDowell ran to find help, Foote twice climbed onto the wreckage to pull out two fellow crewmen, despite having suffered a broken leg himself.

[1] The first building Bills and McDowell could see was the State Penitentiary, two miles away, from which they called the fire and police departments and the railroad.

[1] Due to the equipment available at the time and the conditions and location of the wreck, no fire wagons could reach the site.

[1] This was a period of African Americans leaving the South for better jobs in growing industrial cities.

Joel Williamsen, a local author, happened upon the story of the crash while researching for his historical fiction novel Barrelhouse Boys.