The 1906 Atlantic City train wreck occurred in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sunday October 28, 1906, when a West Jersey and Seashore Railroad electric train fell off a draw (swing) bridge, drowning 53 people.

[1][2][3] The newly-constructed bridge crossed The Thoroughfare, a creek separating Atlantic City from the mainland.

At 2.20 p.m., the first eastbound train, which had left Camden an hour earlier,[4] attempted to cross, but as it moved onto the bridge at a speed of 40 mph it derailed.

[1] The operation of the bridge had been tested after electrification of the line only one month before,[1] and a westbound train had already crossed without incident after the opening of the drawbridge.

The accident resulted in what is regarded as the first press release when public relations expert Ivy Lee, working with the Pennsylvania Railroad, parent company of the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad, convinced the company to present a statement to journalists at the scene of the accident.