The city is Ashtabula. It sits at the mouth of the Ashtabula river on the banks of Lake Erie in Ashtabula County, Ohio. The train wreck occurred on December 29, 1876 when a railroad bridge which crossed the Ashtabula River collapsed with a passenger train on it. All but the locomotive fell into the river. Some people survived the fall but some died when the wooden cars caught fire from oil lanterns and coal-fired stoves in each car. About 92 people died.
In the song "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," on Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" album he probably mentions Ashtabula because it is about the only city with a close-enough four-syllable rhyme to Honolulu:
"I'll look for you in old Honolulu
San Francisco or Ashtabula."
Response last updated by CmdrK on Dec 29 2025.
Dec 29 2025, 4:17 PM
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