The Naperville train disaster occurred April 25, 1946, on the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad at
Loomis Street
Loomis Street is a north–south street in Chicago that is 1400 W in Chicago's grid system, making it west of the north–south baseline of State Street. It runs from the Chicago and Northwestern Railway tracks south, with interruptions, to Cent ...
in
Naperville, Illinois
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
, when the railroad's ''
Exposition Flyer
The ''Exposition Flyer ''was a passenger train jointly operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW), and Western Pacific (WP) railroads between Chicago and Oakland, California, for a decade between 19 ...
'' rammed into the ''
Advance Flyer
Advance commonly refers to:
*Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits
*Advance payment for goods or services
*Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pay ...
'', which had made an unscheduled stop to check its running gear. The ''Exposition Flyer'' had been coming through on the same track at . 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
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expre ...
of .
Trains
The ''Advance Flyer'' and ''
Exposition Flyer
The ''Exposition Flyer ''was a passenger train jointly operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW), and Western Pacific (WP) railroads between Chicago and Oakland, California, for a decade between 19 ...
'' were
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
-powered high-speed inter-city
passenger trains; the ''Exposition Flyer'' would be replaced by the famed ''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...
'' within three years. Both trains were scheduled to leave
Chicago's Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
at 12:35 PM, the ''Advance Flyer'' took a two-minute lead as they both sped west in two sections. On the day of the wreck, the ''Advance Flyer'' had 2
EMD E7
The E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to Ju ...
units, road numbers unknown, with 8
head-end and 5
passenger cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
. The ''Exposition Flyer'' had 2
EMD E5
The EMD E5 is a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois, and produced exclusively for the Ch ...
units, 9910A and 9910B, with 9 passenger cars, four of which were sleepers. This was a short train for the run; normally 12 to 16 cars were needed.
Setting
Naperville
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...
is a suburb in
Illinois' DuPage County west of
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
along the
CB&Q's main line from Chicago to
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
. This well-maintained three-track line, nicknamed "the Racetrack" by locals, had heavy traffic. The outside tracks typically had freight and local commuter trains running in one direction only on each. The center track, signaled in both directions, was used by intercity and express commuter passenger trains. The ''Flyers'' normally ran through Naperville on the center track at .
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 , was still traveling over 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 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 .
]
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
North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has nearly 70 areas of study in undergraduate majors, minors, and programs through 19 academic departments organized in thre ...
students and countless local residents also helped. Emergency workers came from as far as Hinsdale, more than away. Most of the wounded were brought to hospitals in Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
; 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.][
]
Aftermath
There were four investigations of the wreck. In the first, a DuPage County Coroner's inquest recommended that manslaughter charges be filed against the engineer of the ''Exposition Flyer''. He was charged but not taken into custody, as he was in the hospital at the time. He would not recover enough to be directly questioned in any of the investigations.
The CB&Q's investigation started on April 28, three days after the wreck. Brake tests showed that the wreck could have been avoided, or less serious, if the engineer had followed the rules, but the overall objectivity of the investigation was questioned. DuPage County District Attorney Lee Daniels said the railroad was "rehearsing the evidence". It was suspended for the grand jury's investigation.[
An Interstate Commerce Commission report dated July 30, 1946, made recommendations that would affect railroads across the country. It also compared older heavyweight cars to newer lightweight ones (the ''Advance Flyer'' had a mixed ]consist
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
).
In October a DuPage County grand jury found that though the railroad and some employees were negligent, no single act caused the wreck. Rather, the accident resulted from a combination of many factors. No indictments were made, and charges against the ''Exposition Flyer's'' engineer were dropped.
The engineer of the ''Exposition Flyer'' was the center of all the investigations. He said he was going too fast. The railroad said the signals were functioning correctly. Questions were raised about braking
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
Backgroun ...
. The engineer said he had put the brakes in "emergency", and witnesses reported the wheels were sparking, but physical evidence did not support that and crewmembers felt that the train was only in "service" braking before the impact.
There were questions about the conductor of the ''Advance Flyer'' stopping the train just beyond the curve, and whether the flagman did his job effectively.[
The railroad scheduling fast trains so close together was a problem, as was the mixing of lightweight and heavyweight cars, and the order of the cars.
As for the equipment involved, the rear end passenger car was most likely ]scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...
, due to being split in half. Other damaged passenger cars were repaired, but heavy weight cars were no longer combined with light weight cars after the wreck. The two leading units of the ''Exposition Flyer,'' 9910A and 9910B, were badly damaged but not beyond repair; they did run into the end of the decade. Neither unit survived the scrapper’s torch
A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...
after the CB&Q merged into the Burlington Northern
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996.
Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...
in 1970. The leading units of the ''Advance Flyer'' were almost certainly scrapped as there is only one surviving E7 unit, which is an example from the Pennsylvania Railroad, not the CB&Q, and is the sole survivor of the EMD E7 series.
Long-term results
This crash is a major reason why most passenger trains in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
have a speed limit
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expre ...
of . The CB&Q, Milwaukee Road, and Illinois Central were among railroads in the region running passenger trains up to and above 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
Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
or automatic train control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver d ...
system", expensive technology that was implemented on some lines in the region but which 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 four positions. They continued to haul mixed heavyweight/lightweight trains, but the railroad was already 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
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
passenger trains run at up to as of 2013.
In 2012 Chuck Spinner published ''The Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing''. Because of the interest generated by the book, a Naperville committee selected Paul Kuhn to create a sculpture at the crash site. The sculpture, commemorating both the victims and the rescue workers involved in the tragic wreck, was dedicated in 2014. Kuhn's sculpture is made of 5,000 railroad spikes.
References
External links
Photos of the Day: Naperville, Illinois Rail Disaster (1946)
Naperville, IL Disastrous Train Wreck, Apr 1946
Photos of Crash
{{1946 railway accidents
Accidents and incidents involving Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
History of Naperville, Illinois
Passenger rail transportation in Illinois
Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois
Train collisions in the United States
April 1946 events in the United States
Railway accidents in 1946
1946 disasters in the United States
1946 in Illinois