Naperville train disaster

The Naperville train disaster occurred April 25, 1946, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad at Loomis Street in Naperville, Illinois, when the railroad's Exposition Flyer rammed into the Advance Flyer, which had made an unscheduled stop to check its running gear. The Exposition Flyer had been coming through on the same track at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). There were 45 deaths and some 125 injuries. This crash is a major reason why most passenger trains in the United States have a speed limit of 79 mph (127 km/h).

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Wreck

Just after 1:00 PM on April 25, 1946, a mechanical problem caused the Advance Flyer to stop at Loomis Street in Naperville, just beyond a gradual curve that trains came through at speed. A flagman had just started to back up the tracks when the Exposition Flyer loomed into view.

According to engineer W. W. Blaine of the Exposition Flyer, he immediately applied brakes upon seeing the first of two warning signals, but it was still too close to the first train to stop in time. The Exposition Flyer, slowing from 80 mph (130 km/h), was still traveling over 45 mph (72 km/h) when it struck the rear of the Advance Flyer.

When the locomotive hit the last car (#13) of the Advance Flyer, a 68-seat heavyweight coach, the locomotive's front truck detached and the body plowed through three fourths of the length of the car, killing most of its passengers. The locomotive continued for a total of 205 feet (62 m) beyond the point of impact. Car #12, a heavyweight observation car, remained intact and pushed forward into car #11, a lightweight diner. The only car on either train not built to the then-current strength standards, it collapsed into a U-shape, with multiple deaths. Lightweight 52-seat chair car #10 tipped on its side. #9 derailed and was leaning. None of the head-end cars derailed or were damaged.

The Exposition Flyer's locomotives were badly damaged, the all-heavyweight train less so. Cars #1 to #5 all derailed, but the only damage was between cars #2 and #3; the front vestibule of #3 was collapsed about 6 feet (1.8 m).

Rescue

The Kroehler Furniture company was next to the crash scene; hundreds of employees rushed to help, and an aid station was set up in their warehouse. Fifty North Central College students and countless local residents also helped. Emergency workers came from as far as Hinsdale, more than 10 miles (16 km) away. Most of the wounded were brought to hospitals in Aurora; bodies were taken to local funeral homes. Engineer Blaine of the Exposition Flyer, who stayed at his station, climbed out of the wreckage and made his way unassisted to an aid station, despite a head wound and fractured skull. The fireman, who jumped before the impact, was the only person on the Exposition Flyer who died.

The railroad sent a special relief train with doctors and nurses. By late night all injured and most bodies had been recovered. All three mainline tracks were blocked by wreckage. It was 27 hours before trains started to slowly move through the crash site and three days before all wreckage was cleared.

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Long-term results

This crash is a major reason why most passenger trains in the United States have a speed limit of 79 mph (127 km/h). The CB&Q, Milwaukee Road, and Illinois Central were among railroads in the region running passenger trains at up to and above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) in the 1930s and 1940s. The Interstate Commerce Commission ruled in 1951 that trains traveling 80 mph or more must have "an automatic cab signal, automatic train stop or automatic train control system", expensive technology that was implemented on some lines in the region, but has since been mostly removed.

The Burlington increased headway on the two trains from 2 minutes to 15 minutes in May, and added a signal position, flashing yellow, for a total of 4 positions. They continued to haul mixed heavyweight/lightweight trains, but at the time they were already rapidly replacing heavyweight cars with stainless steel lightweight “Zephyr” type cars. All units in both trains would return to service except the Advance Flyer's last coach and the dining car, both were total losses.

Following this disaster, advancements in train speed in the United States essentially halted. However, select Amtrak passenger trains run at up to 150 mph (240 km/h) as of 2013.

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External links

Photos of the Day: Naperville, Illinois Rail Disaster (1946)

https://web.archive.org/web/20100103195411/http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2008/04/photos-of-the-5.html

Naperville native tells story of Loomis Street Crossing train accident

https://imengine.public.prod.pdh.navigacloud.com/?uuid=AED7D5D0-B94E-4134-92D3-2B4272AC23E0&type=preview&function=cover&height=609&width=800
The last cars of the Advance Flyer train were shattered by the impact of the Exposition Flyer. Employees from the Kroehler Manufacturing Company can be seen on the factory roof at the left. Courtesy of Chuck Spinner

Posted May 31, 2012 10:32 am
By Susan Dibble

Chuck Spinner was in his mother’s womb on the day a passenger train plowed into the back of another, killing 45 people and injuring more than 100 others, just one block from his family’s Naperville home. ... It was April 25, 1946, and, at the time, it was the worst train accident in Burlington Railroad history.

His uncle was one of those who raced to the Loomis Street crossing to help with the rescue and, in all likelihood, so did Spinner’s father. ... When it was over, few wanted to talk about what they had seen.

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The 65th Anniversary Of The Naperville Train Crash

The 65th Anniversary Of The Naperville Train Crash
By Barek Halfhand

April 25th 2011 at 1:03 pm marked the 65th anniversary of one of the worst railroad accidents in American history leaving 43 dead and 125 injured …I arrived in far west suburban Naperville at
12:35pm…

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The transformation of steam to diesel powered locomotives transpiring nationwide by way of Smoke Abatement , air pollution and Clean Air legislation that started as early as the late 20’s had a dramatic effect on all modes of personal and logistical transportation …these new environmental regulatory statutes radically changed the air quality and general tidiness of the Union Station depot loading platforms …anyone that has had any experience related to a coal knows that with it comes a fine layer of soot regardless of efforts to contain, manage or remove it…the passengers that filed in and out of the trains as either daily commuters or transient travelers alike probably welcomed this change …

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At some point crew members aboard the Advance Flyer observed an unidentified object ejected from the underside of one of the carriages as they approached the Naperville city limits and the engineer was forced to make an unscheduled stop at the Loomis Street station to check for damages and conduct an impromptu safety inspection…the engineer of Exposition Flyer speeding along a disputed excessive speed speed 80 plus miles an hour did not see the red warning light and by the time he did visually identify the impeded train and frenzied flag waver ahead, the indefatigable leviathan juggernaut slammed into the last car of the Advance Flyer with such velocity, impact and unimaginable force that it literally split the last car in two up the middle…what followed was a scene of confusion, shock, devastation, carnage, twisted metal wreckage and the tumultuous caterwauling of pain and cries for help …

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