1/15/54 - POST, INDIANA

[shlustig]

Post was a station location between Anderson and Indianapolis, possibly a siding for Ft. Benj. Harrison.

Train #24 ("Knickerbocker", 2 E-7's, 4 head-end & 9 passenger cars) was moving at 79 mph when the rear car (dormitory) separated from the train. The train stopped due to the emergency application of the brakes and was impacted by the rear car due to the faulty condition of the brakes on that car.

A yard crew at Indy Stn. had removed the 2 rear cars (STL / CIN service) and added the dormitory car. The ICC Report was critical that the car inspectors did not take exception to the excessive brake piston travel on that car which reduced the effectiveness of the brakes.

Cause of the separation was the steam connectors between the 2 rear cars hung low, struck the track structure several times striking the coupler mechanism before separating, and this allowed the rear car to separate from the train.

There were 5 reported injuries from the impact. The crew recoupled and then set the dormitory car off at Anderson.

[Wayside]

Some time in the early 1960s, I was traveling with my family on a NYC train headed to Albany from St. Louis. Somewhere close to Paris, IL, there was a sudden jolt as ballast and an auto wheel flew past the window of our coach (which happened to be on the rear of the train). After the train stopped suddenly, we eventually learned that our train had struck a farm truck on a rural grade crossing, killing the lone occupant. We also learned, from another passenger who just happened to be an off-duty NYC brakeman, that our coach had actually separated from the train when the collision occured. This off-duty brakeman was at the brake end of the coach at the time we hit the truck. He saw that our coach was separated, and quickly applied the hand brake preventing us from striking the front section of the train. As the train passed over the truck, apparently the air brake equipment was dislodged or damaged at the same time the coupler separated. Fortunately for the crew and passengers, no one was injured other than the fatal truck driver.