O'Hare Blue Line derailment.

Multiple sites report the blue line didn't stop at the bumper and continued into the station and up the steps to the fare control area. 30 injured, no dead. The motorman is lucid but no comments yet. If you look at the pictures, the train had to be really moving to get this far. This is our Spuyten Duyvil... Although it reminds me of the 1953 PRR Federal wreck in DC.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#story/chi ... -20140324/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tadman wrote:And Chicago just had their Spuyten Duyvil wreck... A blue line train came into O'Hare at some time early in the AM, failed to stop, overran the bumper, and climbed an escalator. I mention this here because of the similarity of the accidents and perhaps the investigation process can use any best practices developed earlier this year for Spuyten Duyvil. 30 people injured, so far no deaths reported.

The motorman is also lucid and walking around, but has made no public comments.

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.co ... -20140324/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fortunately, there are no fatalities.

Perhaps one of the passengers asked for a working escalator upon arrival and when one wasn't available, they took matters into their own hands and exercised self-help!

I know this is off topic and not likely to stand, but that's all we hear in NYP: Train such and such needs a working escalator upon arrival and a lot of them are out of commission for rebuilding. Quite often, you have to rearrange the railroad to meet this request.

32 people on a train at 2:50AM?

Airport workers?

Thank goodness no serious injuries.

Likely workers and people heading to early flights. That's just the number of people who were hurt, there were probably more than that on the train. The airport is always busy. There would be tons of people in the escalator area in the middle of the day.

Also, when did CTA get "reticulated" buses?

Tadman wrote:This is our Spuyten Duyvil...

Actually, we had our Spuyten Duyvil way back in February 1977. Otherwise, I'd be hesitant to make that comparison right now.

From the photos, it appears to be run 141, and the lead car number that hopped a ride on the escalator looks like 3061, (the 306 I can see for sure, not sure about the 1). Anyone confirm?

Run numbers may have been less than useful. I believe the Blue Line was bustituting around track work east of Logan Square so this would have been a Logan Square-O'Hare train.

Everyone: I found out about this accident looking at CBS News this morning...

This train must have been moving at a speed significant enough that cars 3061-3062 (2600 series Budd cars) derailed with 3061
climbing the escalator bank at the end of the platform after going through the bumper block - the first question I have is did
the signal tripper near the end of the track apply the emergency brakes? Was this train just going too fast for the emergency
brakes to have any effect? I understand now the thought of this being the CTA version of "Spuyten Duyvil" noting that the Train
Operator had dozed off (???) on approach to the O'Hare Terminal...Luckily there were just some 30 injuries and nothing worse...

With this damage will 3061-3062 be written off or repaired? With the accident investigation under way it looks like the O'Hare
Terminal will be closed until further notice - and Rosemont-River Road be the temporary terminal for O'Hare Line trains...

D: I was a teenager when the February 1977 Loop wreck happened - my Uncle was on work train service and he may have been
assigned on one of the crews that were assisting in the clean-up of that wreck and no doubt it was one of the CTA's worst
accidents of that era...This made the news in NYC and nationwide then...

MACTRAXX

Seems like more accidents like these, just like the Harlem collision last fall, just shows how flawed the CTA's fail-safe system really is...

I'm now waiting for the NTSB to release the station/cab footage of the accident, bound to be scary as !#?@!

"This is our Spuyten Duyvil..."

Perhaps in cause but not in effect. It is too early to say the cause although I'm surprised the train was not stopped before it left the tracks.
If one is going to wreck a train 2:50am is a good time to do it.

BTW: I saw one article that estimated 50 on board with 32 seeking treatment ... most for bumps and bruises. It is good that we can deal with this incident without a fatality.

It's a good thing this didn't happen during peak hours. It's spooky to think that I've been right where the accident happened.

The pictures remind me of the movie Silver Streak.

One more interesting thing between this accident and the 1953 Federal crash in Washington DC, like GG-1 #4876, the lead car will be cut apart for transport. However, I'm sure in this case, the car will not be put back together.

Second time in months that Blue Line 2600s have been wrecked (also the runway incident last fall).

Latest on the incident... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 2194.story

The NTSB is apparently saying that the brakes were engaged and that the train came into O'Hare station at 25-26 MPH, which isn't speeding according to them. Does that make sense? I'm not aware of what the speed limits are on the Blue Line in that area, but wouldn't a Speed Limit of 25 be a bit high for the last stop? I'd expect a lower speed limit (around 15 MPH) or Yard Limit rules in effect in the area.

The speed limit at the bumping post should be 0. 25 mph at the beginning of the platform doesn't sound too bad to be able to bring the train to a nice stop. But maybe CTA should start doing brake checks or safety stops before reaching the end of lines- more for operator alertness than for the small possibility of a brake malfunction.

I have to say, if CTA cars were like DC Metro cars, this would have been worse. Those things seem to peel apart like plywood camper trailers judging from wreck pictures.

I'm guessing there's no ATC or overspeed protection on the station trackage there? And how sensitive is the 'deadman' on those cars. If she was starting to doze, shouldn't the spring pressure (foot pedal or controller handle) have been enough to actuate an emergency stop?