On the 22nd of June, 1918, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was on its way to its next scheduled performance in Hammond, Indiana. More than 300 labourers and circus performers were on board one of the circus’s two dedicated trains when it was forced to stop to deal with a mechanical issue. The vast majority of passengers were asleep, unaware entirely that another train was bearing down on them at full speed, and that in just a few minutes the Hagenback-Wallace Circus would suffer one of the worst tragedies it would ever endure.