Naperville railway accident

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The Naperville rail accident was a rear-end collision on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q.) On April 25, 1946 near Naperville , Illinois , USA . 45 people died.

Locomotive of EMD E5 the CB & Q series. As before exposure flyer was used

Starting position

On the three-track route between Chicago and Aurora , the Advance Flyer was the priority that day , followed by the Exposition Flyer , the forerunner of the California Zephyr . The trains used the middle track and drove there at about 120 km / h line speed. The Advance Flyer was powered by two diesel locomotives of the series pulled EMD E7, led 13 cars , five cars . The following Exposition Flyer , which was pulled by a diesel locomotive double unit of the EMD E5 A&B series, had nine cars, four of which were sleeping cars .

For both trains, the timetable specified 12:35 p.m. as the departure time in the Chicago Union Station , whereby they actually left the station every two minutes.

the accident

Less than half an hour after departure, the Advance Flyer encountered a technical problem that forced it to make an unscheduled stop at Loomis train station in Naperville. The train came to a stop after a slight curve. The signals that secured the train to the rear should have worked perfectly.

An employee was sent to secure the train to the rear. As soon as he started walking, the following exposition flyer came into view. The engine driver began to brake when he heard the first warning signal, but could only slow his train down to 70 km / h before it hit the stationary train. The approaching locomotive destroyed the end car of the stationary train, an open- plan car with 68 seats, almost completely and severely damaged four cars in front of it. Almost all of the passengers who were in the end car died. The approaching locomotive was badly damaged, but its train remained almost undamaged: only the vestibule of one car was crushed and five cars derailed .

consequences

Immediate consequences

45 people died and about 125 were injured. In the approaching train, only the trainer's assistant was killed, who had jumped off before the collision. The engine driver survived seriously injured.

Accident investigation

There were three investigations into the accident:

  • The local coroner of the DuPage district came to the conclusion that the engine driver should be charged with manslaughter , which it did.
  • The CB&Q. conducted an investigation herself, the objectivity of which was questioned and brought her the accusation of the responsible public prosecutor that she was already practicing for the taking of evidence in criminal proceedings . The CB&Q. came to the conclusion that if the engine driver had obeyed the rules, he could have stopped before the collision or at least reduced the speed very much.
  • The Interstate Commerce Commission , the railway supervisory authority, mainly issued recommendations for rail operations in the future.

Criminal trial

In the criminal trial in October of the same year, the grand jury came to the conclusion that the accident had various causes, which only in their interaction would have caused the catastrophe, but no one was to be blamed. The accused engine driver was acquitted. The individual factors that contributed to the accident were named that the approaching train was too fast and then did not brake adequately. The question was also raised as to whether the braking system used was even sufficient for the speed being driven. The train driver of the Advance Flyer was accused of having brought the train to a standstill after a curve and the employee who was supposed to secure him to the rear of whether he had performed his task properly. The railway company was accused of running such fast trains at such short intervals and that they used both heavy and lightweight passenger cars on the same train.

Long-term consequences

As a result of this accident, the speed of passenger trains to 79 mph (127 km / h) was limited when track and train are not a command of the type Automatic Train Control were equipped.

In 2014, a local artist created a memorial from 5,000 sleeper nails at the accident site .

See also

literature

  • NN: Proves Wreck of Two Trains Avoidable . In: Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1946.
  • NN: Railway, Crews Freed in Wreck Taking 45 Lives . In: Chicago Tribune, October 5, 1946.
  • Chuck Spinner: The Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing . AuthorHouse 2012, ISBN 978-1-4685-5594-3
  • Karl Zimmermann: Burlington's Zephyrs . Andover Junction 2004. ISBN 0-7603-1856-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Spinner: The Tragedy , p. 82.
  2. ↑ NN: 47 Die .
  3. ↑ Spinner: The Tragedy .
  4. ^ NN: Naperville, IL Disastrous Train Wreck ; NN: 47 The .
  5. ↑ Spinner: The Tragedy , pp. 40-41, 46.
  6. ^ NN: Proves Wreck .
  7. ↑ Spinner: The Tragedy , pp. 114-123.
  8. ^ NN: Railway, Crews .
  9. ^ Spinner: The Tragedy , p. 82.
  10. ^ Spinner: The Tragedy , pp. 86f.
  11. ^ Spinner: The Tragedy , p. 85.
  12. ^ Daniel White: Naperville sculptor makes a giant out of railroad recyclables . In: Daily Herald, December 1, 2015.

Coordinates: 41 ° 46 ′ 47 "  N , 88 ° 8 ′ 31"  W.