build a hospital in their town. An emergency care clinic opened in 1882, followed by Ashtabula General Hospital on July 1, 1904. Several other changes were also made in the wake of the accident. Because of its low ductility, cast iron was banned by civil engineers for use in load-carrying structures soon after the accident. About 1886, steam heat was adopted by the railroad, replacing the wood and coal stoves in passenger cars. As part of the Interstate Commerce Act, a federal system was set up in 1887 to formally investigate fatal railroad accidents. Initially, the mass grave of unidentified remains in Chestnut Grove Cemetery was unmarked. Local citizens began an effort to erect a monument on the site in 1892, and the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster Monument was dedicated on May 30, 1895, before a crowd of 5,000 people. The names of 25 individuals known to have died in the fire but whose remains could not be found are listed on a plaque on the memorial's base. The alarm bell from the Lake Street Fire House which was used to call for help on the night of December 29 has also been preserved. It passed into private hands, but was donated to the city of Ashtabula in 1975. It is now on display in front of the city's Main Avenue fire station, accompanied by a small plaque. Letters from concerned friends and families seeking whether loved ones had survived are archived at the Jennie Munger Gregory Memorial Museum at Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio. Death of Charles Collins Days after testifying before the state legislature committee, LS&MS chief engineer Charles Collins was found dead in his bedroom of a gunshot wound to the head. Having tendered his resignation to the railroad's board of directors the previous Monday and been refused, Collins was believed to have committed suicide out of grief and feeling partially responsible for the tragic accident. Two official autopsies, both conducted in 1878, concluded that Collins had been murdered. For unknown reasons, law enforcement officials did not release these reports at the time. The reports were rediscovered in 2001. Collins was buried in an elaborate mausoleum at Chestnut Grove Cemetery. See also List of structural failures and collapses List of bridge disasters List of wind-related railway accidents References Notes Citations Bibliography External links List of saved and wounded The Ashtabula Railroad Disaster, from the Ashtabula Historical Railroad Foundation. Web site includes