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Discussion related to commuter rail and rapid transit operations in the Chicago area including the South Shore Line, Metra Rail, and Chicago Transit Authority.

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 #610043  by byte
 
Found this video on youtube and thought it might be of interest here. Looks to be investigative footage of some sort from the Chicago Fire Department of the rescue and cleanup efforts immediately following the infamous 1972 rear-ending incident on the Electric. Color, okay quality for the era, with no sound (dubbed in music). It's fairly sobering, with lots of clips of covered stretchers being removed from cars, but interesting nonetheless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gerB7Zwj ... re=related
 #610089  by F40CFan
 
That was very sobering. It brings back memories. I don't remember seeing that much detail on the news at the time.
 #610159  by doepack
 
Until about 10 years ago, I wasn't even aware that this accident occurred, and although I've seen some photos online since, that video only begins to describe just how terrible it was. Nevertheless, this was the catalyst that caused IC to change the paint on the ends of all cab cars from black to orange for increased visibility, including all of the older Pullman steel equipment that remained on the property after deliveries of the new highliners, which had just completed at about that time. Nice find byte; wow, what an awful mess...
 #610284  by MACTRAXX
 
Everyone: I remember hearing about that accident myself - I was just 13 when it happened. I recall seeing pictures of this accident-particularly the Highliner car involved which was virtually destroyed. What was ironic is that it happened literally right in front of Michael Reese Hospital of all places.

This was one of the worst train accidents in my lifetime concerning a place that I have actually visited-I visited Chicago for the first time as a 14 year old in the Summer of 1973 and that was one of the reasons that I knew about the existence of the Highliner cars. I got to know and like the IC Electric service as a teenager since it was like the eastern electrified rail services that I identified with. It was different then-as now-from any other passenger rail service around Chicago.
Thoughts and memories from MACTRAXX
 #1097383  by MACTRAXX
 
Everyone: It is hard to believe - the 40th Anniversary of this tragic accident is on October 30,2012!

Does anyone have any pertinent information about this accident like still pictures and perhaps
any literature like the FRA Accident Report about this wreck?

Noting that the replacements for the early 70s Highliner fleet are beginning to be delivered how
many Highliner cars are still in service? ME has certainly got their money's worth from this fleet
noting their age and even the add-on cars from 1979-80 are now over 30 years old...

SEE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Chicago_commuter_rail_crash

Also: I was able to find this NTSB reference: "Collision of Illinois Central Gulf Commuter Trains
Chicago,Illinois October 30,1972"...Report Date: 6/28/73; RAR-73-05; PB-221766
Does anyone have a link to this document? The NTSB does not have this at its web page posted...

MACTRAXX
 #1097786  by Tadman
 
I believe part of the cause was the brakes on the new highliners. Nothing about the new highliners worked right (STL Car was almost bankrupt) but the worst offenders were the doors and tri-mode electric/air/hydraulic brakes. Modes were known to drop out and the train wouldn't stop nearly as fast as planned. At the 1990's rebuild, the hydraulic mode was eliminated. Even now, they don't stop well. When the 1200's arrived, I asked a crewman what he thought of the new cars - "they actually stop" was his reply.
 #1098068  by R36 Combine Coach
 
St. Louis Car was fading out by 1971 when the Highliners arrived...heavy losses were to blame. They would be the last St. Louis built commuter equipment. After this only the USDOT/UMTA SOAC cars (1972) and NYCT R44s would remain. The last cars to roll out of the St. Louis Car assembly plant would be the Staten Island R44s, delivered January-April 1973.

The R44s were not very well received either.
 #1098296  by MACTRAXX
 
ohioriverrailway wrote:Clip has been removed. Any other sources that anyone knows of?
O-RR: I will second that...That film was quite interesting...

More thoughts: First-I was told by a fellow NRHS member that visited Chicago recently that there is a plaque
placed at the South Chicago-93th Street Terminal honoring the victims and commemorating the 10/30/72
ICG Electric accident...Does anyone have a picture or the text of this and are any other memorials that
anyone knows about concerning this wreck?

Second: With the 40th Anniversary of this tragedy now just days away will there be any media coverage
about this wreck in the Chicagoland area?

10/30/72 was one of the darkest days in Chicago passenger railroading history...MACTRAXX
 #1098402  by justalurker66
 
MACTRAXX wrote:Also: I was able to find this NTSB reference: "Collision of Illinois Central Gulf Commuter Trains
Chicago,Illinois October 30,1972"...Report Date: 6/28/73; RAR-73-05; PB-221766
Does anyone have a link to this document? The NTSB does not have this at its web page posted...
I have the document ... downloaded October 4th, 2009. 64 pdf pages, 3.94 MB.
After a few minutes of Google searching, here it is:
http://www.blet602.org/Historic_acciden ... 0_1972.pdf

Collision of Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Commuter Trains, Chicago, Illinois, October 30, 1972.
Event Date: 10/30/1972.
Report Date: 6/28/1973
NTSB # RAR-73-05
NTIS # PB-221766

Here is a long description of it ... http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=9806

Here is a story from the 25th anniversary:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997 ... rash-wreck
 #1098573  by MACTRAXX
 
Jl66: THANK YOU for the reply and search...

One thing I remember was that there were few pictures of this accident scene
and the video link that Byte had posted was the only film that I have seen of it...

It will be interesting to note how the Chicagoland media covers this 40th Anniversary
subject...

MACTRAXX
 #1099275  by Tadman
 
Typical news reporting - they report the green cars as wooden, and the Highliners as steel/aluminum. I'm not aware of any aluminum - they were Corten carbon steel. That said, the silver-mist color may suggest an aluminum body for the casual observer.
 #1102534  by MACTRAXX
 
Tadman wrote:Typical news reporting - they report the green cars as wooden, and the Highliners as steel/aluminum. I'm not aware of any aluminum - they were Corten carbon steel. That said, the silver-mist color may suggest an aluminum body for the casual observer.
Tad: Did any Chicago media outlet or newspaper note this anniversary?

I would have asked sooner but on 10/30 LI was dealing with Sandy's wrath...

MACTRAXX