The 1971 Salem, Illinois derailment occurred on June 10, 1971, when Amtrak’s ''

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

derailed near

Salem, Illinois Salem is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,485 at the 2010 census. Geography Salem is located at (38.6282, -88.9482). According to the 2010 census, Salem has a total area of , of w ...

. It is sometimes referred to as the Tonti derailment, after the unincorporated community of Tonti, Illinois, which was the site of the crash. An investigation by the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB) found that the derailment was caused by a false

flange A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of an iron beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of ...

on a flat wheel caused by a seized axle bearing. The crash killed 11 people and injured 163. It was Amtrak's first fatal accident since assuming control of most intercity passenger trains in the United States on May 1, 1971.

Accident

Amtrak #1 (later #59), the ''

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

at 8:00 AM CT on June 10, 1971. The ''City of New Orleans'' was a daytime train between Chicago and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Up until April 30, 1971, it had been operated by the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line al ...

, but passed to Amtrak when the latter assumed operation of most intercity service in the United States. It was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans at 1:30 AM on June 11. The train was composed of 15 cars: a

baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passeng ...

, 11 coaches, a diner-counter, a

lounge car A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...

, and a combination coach/food service car. Amtrak had inherited or leased this equipment from other railroads. A set of four leased Illinois Central

EMD E-unit EMD E-units were a line of passenger train streamliner diesel locomotives built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and its predecessor the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC). Final assembly for all E-units was in La Grange, Illino ...

s of various models pulled the train: E8A #4031 (leading), E9Bs #4109 and #4106, and E10A (a rebuilt E8A) #2024 (formerly #4032). The lead locomotive assigned to the train was #4031, an

EMD E8 The E8 is a , A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Cana ...

A originally manufactured in 1952. The E8 developed from two

12 cylinder 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multip ...

s on one truck. During the run south from Chicago the #2 engine on #4031 failed and could not be repaired. After a crew change in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metrop ...

, the new crew observed the #2 engine respond to the throttle and concluded that it was operational again. South of Champaign the Illinois Central main line was

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

with crossovers. As the train passed over one of these crossovers at Tonti, #4031 derailed. #4031 was badly damaged in the derailment; #4109, immediately behind, caught fire and was destroyed. The rear two locomotives remained upright and suffered little damage. The lead baggage car and first five coaches were destroyed. The remaining eight cars suffered varying degrees of damage. Eleven people were killed and 163 were injured. Six of the eleven fatalities occurred when passengers were ejected through large side windows. It was Amtrak's first fatal accident.

Investigation

1971 Salem, Illinois derailment flat wheel

The NTSB investigation found flat spots on the rear truck of #4031. Inspection of the tracks between Tonti and

Effingham, Illinois Effingham is a city in and the county seat of Effingham County, Illinois, United States. It is in South Central Illinois. Its population was 12,252 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Effingham, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

, revealed markings where the wheels had slid instead of spun. Further investigation revealed that the truck's traction motor had seized prior to the accident, and that the wheels had probably locked at Effingham during a station stop. The locked wheels created a false flange. When the compromised wheel reached the switch at the crossover at Tonti it derailed. #4031 had made another run from Chicago to New Orleans on June 6. Engine #2 had failed on that trip as well and was shut down in New Orleans. As an added precaution the reverser for the engine was locked in neutral for trip to Chicago. Shutting down the engine and locking the reverser in neutral had the effect of disabling the wheel slip indicator, which would notify the locomotive engineer that a wheel was slipping or sliding. While #4031 was repaired in Chicago, the Illinois Central maintenance forces did not observe that the reverser was locked and did not realize that power was not being supplied to the rear truck.

Aftermath

The NTSB found that the mechanical faults in Illinois Central locomotive #4031 caused the derailment. It recommended improvements in wheel-slip detection devices for locomotives and in pre-departure testing procedures. The NTSB also recommended that the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail sa ...

(FRA) draft safety standards to address the ejection of passengers through windows in the event of accidents.

Notes

Endnotes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salem Illinois derailment Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois Railway accidents in 1971 1971 in Illinois Accidents and incidents involving Amtrak Accidents and incidents involving Illinois Central Railroad 1971 disasters in the United States Marion County, Illinois Derailments in the United States