The South Bend Train Wreck (known also as the Great Mishawaka Train Wreck[1]) occurred on June 27, 1859, between Mishawaka and South Bend in Indiana on the Michigan Southern Railroad killing 42 people and injuring 50 more.

According to the Chicago Daily Journal: "The engine was literally buried in the opposite side of the ravine in quicksand and mud, and the tender, baggage and express car, and two second class cars, were shattered almost into kindling wood, and piled on top of the engine.

[4][better source needed] There had been extreme rainfall in the area the previous afternoon and evening and it is thought that the culvert beneath the embankment became blocked causing build-up of water behind the embankment which collapsed as the train was crossing.

The westbound train had passed over safely at 8:30 p.m.[4][better source needed] One body was found in the St. Joseph River a mile below the creek; other bodies were discovered buried completely in sand and a week after the accident the death toll was 41 persons,[5] though some sources estimate the death toll as much as 60 or 70.

[6] The site of the accident is close to the present intersection of Ironwood Road and Lincoln Way West.