The 1972 Chicago Train Collision 50 Years Later
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- Опубліковано 29 жов 2022
- A very heavily requested video that seemed fitting to do now. This video was by far one of the most difficult to ever edit. Find out how a brand new double deck train set got rear ended by an older Pullman style set from the 1920s
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Outro: Galaxies - Stellardrone
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Seeing those ancient coaches smashed into the new ones looks like two totally different eras of American history crashing into each other.
Those Pullmans were built of steel, steel and more steel. They were the counterparts to the South Shore's Big Orange cars.
@ChillZedd 😩" INDEED!... Very metaphoric. "
As far as I can recall, I have never ridden the IC,. I do recall riding on the old NorthWestern trains at Clinton St., with my grandma . Now the Metra!
@@8avexp The Pullmans were actually similar to interurban cars. Built to last.
@@brushcreek42 They were both cut from the same cloth.
The fact the railroad didn't give their employees proper training and equipment really sticks out to me. Had they leaned on the engineers about the speed limits, or even supplied flags to the conductors, so many people would still be alive. That kind of lazy management is all over accidents like this and it's just sad to hear about. Wonderful video as always. I wasn't familiar with this crash.
Good to see you here!
Hello Darkness.
You know management is horrendous for a railroad if Darkness the Curse shows up at Thunderbolt vid
Neither was I but as I read the NTSB report I was like "what in the fresh hell!" It's baffling how so much went wrong
Which train crash will you upload, next?
My dad installed wheelchair lifts into many of the Highliners in the 90’s. He said how the dimensions of the car sides were warped and not straight bowing in. The cars were also filled with asbestos that many breathed in unknowingly.
My Sister’s Father-in-law died in this tragic crash. He was a longtime employee of the Illinois Central Railroad. I was 13 years old at the time and I remember him as a warm, quiet, and cheerful soul. (RIH)🙏🏾🔥💕
I’m so sorry.
@@heyli2197nah that's fucked up
@@CosmicMeecheeAVR good gosh why did i comment that
My grandmother (74) was on the single level train in the first car. It’s a blessing that she still survived and was able to raise me
As a person who lives outside of Chicago, I have wanted you to make this for so long so thank you!
I used to ride both the old Pullman’s and the high liners. BTW the old Pullman’s were called the green monsters and had wicker seats that you could flip back and forth to change the direction of the seating.
erpi1142: The old PULLMAN STANDARD CARS built 1926 - 1929 are very much like CTA'S 4000 SERIES L CARS built by the CINCINNATI CAR COMPANY 1914-1924. They make the same traction motor sounds as the Old dark green IC cars and the air whistles on the CTA 4000SERIES L CARS sound very much like the horns on the Old IC cars. The CTA 4000s and the old dark green IC cars have emergency battery lighting when the outer power source goes dead. You'd notice on the 4000 Series L cars in 3rd rail gaps such as street grade crossings and track switch overs.
Reversable ones in Boston and NYC area commuter cars too. Fixed seats were a step down.
erpi1142: The old Pullmans have allot in common with CTA's 4000 SERIES L cars like wicker seats, concrete floors,and of course no air conditioning. CTA's 4000 SERIES L cars also make the same sounds as the old IC PULLMAN STANDARD CARS the traction motors and air whistles that sound like the horns of the old PULLMAN STANDARD IC CARS.
@erpi-ks 1by: The CTA'S 4000 SERIES L CARS sounded very much the same as the old Dark green IC PULLMAN STANDARD CARS built 1924-1929. The traction motors on the 4000 SERIES L CARS sounds the same as the old IC cars. Even the air whistles on the 4000s sound like the horns on the old Dark green IC cars. Also both have emergency battery lighting when the outside power source goes dead such as when the 4000s encounter 3rd rail gaps.
Into railroad history! Rip to all of those who died then
I actually been by the station was alot, mostly because I grew up in Chicago. RIP to everyone who died in this.
And Rest In Pieces for Lead Pullman Illnois Central & Highliner Illinois Central 1509
I was actually on board highliner 1506 (car number 3) on that day. A few minutes before the crash, I was talking to my buddy. Btw we were on the bottom floor when this happened. I looked out the window just as we reached 27th street, and I was confused when we stopped after the station. Then we were backing up and I’m like, “do we stop here?” And then I felt something. Getting out was a pain since everyone was cramming through the doors, and then I saw what happened. Our car and the 2 other cars 1503 and 1522 looked to be undamaged. 1509… that’s another story. And there was a Pullman set derailed behind us. I guessed they were going on a another track but accidentally went on ours, and that caused our ride to downtown Chicago to be canceled. I did take a video and some pics, but we were stuck in 27th street until we could find another train to downtown Chicago. But hey, at least we got somewhere! I actually found newspapers showing pictures of the crash later on!
Nice to know what cars were involved now. So
It was 1503, 1522 (Maybe switched unless that can be confirmed) 1506 and 1509
Yes you are correct. It was a crazy experience!
Your welcome! Nice Thomas reference!
Did you ever post the photos of your experience?
How old are you?
Chicago Rail Collision. Brand New EMUs destroyed in a collision with older ones. Before the era of metra. IC new high liners destroyed in a collision with older Pullman EMUs. You will not be forgotten, Those who died in the Chicago Train Collision. The first highliners were later retired by Metra in 2016. Some highliner emu cars are preserved.
In the UK 🇬🇧 if you overrun, you overrun. There is no going backwards. If you forget to stop, then passengers get off at the next station. We have had some awesome ‘didn’t see the signal’ accidents, so we had automatic braking when you pass a signal.
The UK also developed the 'advance caution' signal - or the "double yellow'.
That's how I see it too especially if the signal block is at the station
Incredibly well made and well researched. I have always been fascinated by this crash, as my grandfather was commuting to work that very morning on the IC, and I remember him telling me how frightening the crash was in person.
I work with a young man whose grandfather was killed in this accident. I was 5 that year, so obviously I do not recall it. However I do recall the tragic train accident that occured between a Dan Ryan and Ravenswood train in 1977. My mom, cousin, and I had just arrived downtown when it happened via the subway. The Ravenswood was renamed the Brown Line in the 90's, and Dan Ryan became the Green Line.
Oh my god i kinda fell bad about your grandfather i hope your grandfather lives in heaven
@@dezariamoore It was his grandpa, not mine.
@@ilahildasissac1943 oh i am very stupid about that
@@dezariamoore Don't feel bad, it was a mistake.
Hey man. Even though I haven’t watched this yet I know this is going to be outstanding like the other ones you have done.
fr, I’m really hyped for this video
It’s really good so you should watch it.
Yeah like Fox River Grove bus🚌/train🚂🚃 collision 💥💥💥
That was really well made, glad to see another documentary from you and can’t wait to see what’s up next
Fantastic documentary Thunderbolt! The colors of the double decker cars look like they were New Haven RR. R.I.P to the 45 that were killed in the incident. Truly a dark day for Chicago railroading.
Both ICG and NH used similar colors in their liveries.
New accident doc from Thunderbolt 1000 Productions!? Yayyyy! Good to see you again, old friend, how I missed you. I got tired of watching the playlist over and over with nothing new
Can't believe it's been 50 years. I was in 4th grade when this happened. I remember watching the news.
We lived up in Highwood, I was delivering the Daily News and Chicago Today when this happened but don't remember it. I remember several aircraft crashes in the papers but don't remember any train accidents other than CNW trains hitting cars at crossings in Highwood and Highland Park. Heck I remember one where a person's new Ford LTD stalled on the tracks and wouldn't re-start, they got out of the car but when the train hit it they couldn't get it stopped for about a 1/4 mile, at that time the rail way was above grade. I remember the wrecker having to winch the Ford down off the grade.
Finally!! This accident is very forgotten and the Wikipedia article is tiny!
Agreed
I was one of the people on that train. And i still remember that faithfull day...
“faithfull” day? Perhaps you meant ‘fateful’ day?
@@chooch1995 ah yes. Thank you. Didnt see that spelling mistake (:
@@Gameboy_1992 omj i feel sooo bad 4 u:(
Wow, never expected that.
If I miss a freeway off ramp I always back up on the freeway. It's the smart thing to do.
There was a writeup on this tragedy in Reader's Digest. Two young ladies were pinned underneath the wreckage and they had to remove all of it before those ladies could be rescued. IIRC both survived.
I READ THEIR ACCOUNT
6:37 when doctor Edward Goldberg said limbs hanging out the window that gave me chills just hearing that
Very likely yes and they were more use to trains going 10mph to enter the yard. When the train derailed they remained off due to most of the town's power being knocked out from the derailment hence the dark silhouette of the crossings in the fire since you can't see the lights flashing at all.
Speaking of doctor Edward Goldberg, what happened to him after the accident?
I rode the 1971 Highliners when they were brand-new, fresh off the St. Louis Car assembly line. While they were very impressive to look at compared with the old 1926 Pullman Green electric heavy weights, their construction was very, very flimsy. The bodies of these cars looked like they were made of tinfoil. That's why when the impact took place, a terrified passenger on one of the unaffected cars stated that seconds into the collision all she could see was the "orange" on the Highliner peel away as the Pullmans telescoped into the rear of it. I still continued to ride them for many years after that. For the most part they proved to be very dependable, especially given the severity of the Chicago winters. But they truly did have a rocky start to say the least.
They were actually considerably heavier than the old Pulmans. Just a crappy body design
@@philipnasadowski1060 Well, the St. Louis built Highliners may very well have weighed more than the motorized 1926 heavyweight electrics. But not by much as they likewise weighed in at @ 140,000 lbs.. What I mean is, the "motorized" 1926 heavyweights were generally coupled with un-motorized trailer cars; this was generally the configuration in which they operated throughout most of their years on the IC. The motorized cars weighed in at @ 141,200 lbs., as where the un-motorized trailers weighed in at @ 86 - 88,000 lbs., if I remember correctly. But given the fact that the 1926 heavyweights were 72ft. long, 10ft. wide and 13ft. in height in comparison to the Highliner dimensions of 85ft. L. X 10ft. W X 15.8ft. H, the Highliners could technically have been considered "lightweights" when compared to the single level heavyweights. The additional 36 Highliners built by Bombardier in the late 1970s were built more "solid", at least appearance-wise. And the Bombardiers appeared to provide a more solid, quieter ride than the 1971 St. Louies although their truck design and suspension systems were identical.
Not being from the Chicago area, I never rode one of them. I have to admit they were nice-looking. Too bad this accident was probably what brought about the collapse of the St. Louis Car Company.
@@philipnasadowski1060 Those Pullmans were built like BMT standards.
@@DTD110865 well they were bought by General Steel Industries in 1960 and dissolved in 1974 so i doubt this accident truly was the reason for the St Louis Car Company
Do you plan on covering 611’s accident from 1956? Keeping your college and job lives in mind, I want to remind you a few months ahead of time, so you have plenty of time for research, writing, and editing.
I think he already did
@@nursestoyland no, he didn’t actually. If you look at his official playlist of accident videos he’s done, 611’s not there
Commuter Train Number 416 was running a local service, while train 720 was running express. They two trains were both travelling downtown.
Yes, I believe that is what the narrator said.
I grew up in Madison so going down to Chicago was a fairly regular occurrence. This made the regional news.
What strikes me as an adult looking back on that time as a child is how “backwards”, for lack of a better term, things were back then. The law requiring *installation* for car seat belts was only 6 years old and my dad had been chided before the 1966 law for actually *paying extra* to have them installed in our car when I was young. There were no such things as paramedics or fire/rescue personnel everywhere. They were an experiment in Los Angeles and Miami in 1969, with only 6 full-fledged paramedic units in 3 cities’ pilot programs (Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle) in 1972.
That means the ambulances responding to this disaster were staffed with men trained in advanced first aid. Counselors at scout camps have advanced first aid training. Let that ruminate for a minute. And unless the doctors and nurses coming from the hospital had some kind of “battlefield medicine” experience, they weren’t necessarily trained in field stabilization of patients either. It just really puts this disaster into even more perspective.
Those Pullman cars are pure works of art and craftsmanship....these train cars just beautiful.
I don't understand why and how they can just decide to back up without telling anyone . They would have been better off just going on to the next station .
On the foggy morning of October 30th, 1972, the 2 commuter trains collided rear end.
We have an old Metra Highliner here in South Bend, IN. It is used at the fairly new Fire training academy.
If anyone is ever in the Chicago area, I would recommend that you visit the Illinois Railway Museum.
I'm not convinced the flag protection would have avoided this. The fact that one train was reversing is almost irrelevant to me to since the speed difference from stopped wasn't that great. There was signals that needed to be more visible. But it seems like by the time a trainman would have walked back to put the flags up and walked back to the train the collision would have happened anyways. Seems like the train schedule was too tight for the method of train control if a high speed collision is ok only minutes away. If the train was held in the stop longer than usual wouldn't it also be hot from behind in this situation?
I equate it to someone ran a stop sign or red light and hits a car that backs up slowly after stoping late. Sure they shouldn't have been backing. But the runner wasn't going to be able to stop for the traffic device anyways.
It would possibly not avoid the crash altogether, but would greatly reduce the consequences. It is estimated that 416 (the 1st train) backed up almost 850 ft to the collision point, which translates to over 45 mph in speed reduction for train 720 (the 2nd, striking, train) in emergency braking. This collision was an incredible combination of failures on both sides (416 reversing with no protection against following traffic, failure of 720's engineer to comply with signal indications). The thing that surprised/shocked me the most, while reading the NTSB report, was the fact that the crewmembers of the trains involved did not properly understand the meaning of a yellow signal aspect. Combined with the lack of speedometers, rush hour traffic and generally lax approach towards safety, this was a disaster waiting to happen.
Couldn't wait. Binged some earlier ones to hold me over. Thanks for doing the video!
I was taking these trains to school in 1972. I rode on both types of cars and the old cars were very heavy riveted iron plate similar to what you would see on a ship. The newer cars were built similar to automobiles with thin gauge bodies. There was a huge mass differential
Sure pal, you were probably born in 2010. Get back on Fortnite buddy
@@DontDefuseno seriously, you were born in 2010. you get on fortnite
That is one hell of a fantastic youtube documentary. My help with the links really did some assistance on your video as well as a few others.
Love all the old footage at the end. Really enjoyed this video. Instant sub.
I live 100 miles east of Chicago and was in 8th grade then. Still remember seeing the photos in the paper and the TV news. Was pretty crazy how this happened.
Well done documentary! A lot of work went into this, and it shows. Nice job covering a sad event with respect.
Glad to see these are back
1:17 taken at the Illinois railway museum. Located in Union Il. it is a must see whether your a train buff or not. I remember hearing about this on the Wally Phillips show as I was getting ready for my high school day. Hard to believe it's been 50 years. 9:45 surprise!
The old Pullman cars were tanks compared to these new highliners
The Highliners weighed more.
New Documentary, Great Job Thunder (as always)
Outstanding reporting! Worked all weekend @ at a national event and come home to T1K's new drop. TY!
Fantastically well-produced and informative video. Thank you. I learned a lot!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Something like this is absolutely scary.
KUDOS! Excellent video, well researched and executed. Grade 10 out of 10. Probably you spent a lot of time and effort.
Please do the Norfolk and Western tank car explotion in 1974 in Decatur, Illinois. It blew up my great-grandparents house. (THERE WAS A LOT OF DAMAGE!!! PARTS OF THE YARD BLEW UP!! AND 7 DIED)
My dad also was a part of the clean up with my greatgradparents house. He was around 6-7 years old at the time of the explotion. He also didn't live that far away from rail yard.
The yard I think is either owned by Norfolk Southern or Canadian National now
PLZ take this into consideration
I survived
Michael Reese
Very nice video! Crazy to think you have more subscribers than the official K&L Trainz channel! Keep up the good work!
It’s always a good feeling when one of your most watched channels takes a suggestion you made a while back
Thank you for keeping history alive, well done!
Fascinating video. I was just talking with my mom the other day about this incident. The had a college classmate that used to take that train to school in chicago, but missed getting to the train station due to car problems that morning.
Nicely done, thanks!
I never knew of this accident, thanks for bringing to us, great job!
Another great video, as always. Thank you! RIP to the victims of this crash
Your work is always awesome and well executed! I look forward to your next video every time. Thank you for what you do, it's always informative and entertaining
15:25 I think when you overshoot by that distance like in this case and already left the block, proceeding to the next station is not a bad idea. Especially if it was just a small station like here where not a lot of people get in and out. Reversing is always risky and sometimes it's not worth the risk
I’m only in the ads and ik how much ima like this vid, I live in Chicago too. Good job dude I love your vids
Top Notch video as always
As soon as you said Illinois Central, the song City of New Orleans popped into my head
Yesss! I missed your documentaries
Great video! Please make a video about the 1979 Harvey train collision. Fun fact, the 1972 Chicage collision took place 1 year after the Salem Illinois derailment and 23 years before the Fox River Grove collision. Please make a remastered video of the Salem Illinois derailment. I'm your number one fan and I love your videos! Keep up the great work!
Great video I lived in Chicago during this time and remember this well!
very nicely done....straight up
great video!!
Thanks for the vid bro💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 your the 🐐
this video is awesome. your best so far!!!
ps.: pls do the Italian Viareggio disaster
yet another amazing video
Its always a good day when you post a train crash documentary
Once again, another great job!
Thanks
@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren No problem and I’m glad that you are back to documenting videos.
One thing that may have been explained, is that the leading train only overshot the station by one signal block, so therefore the following train would have been expecting a stop signal at the station, presuming he was running on yellows, both due to switching and being aware of the leading train. Sitting in the station would only require the following train to stop a couple hundred feet shorter than had it been forced to stop at the red. Perhaps they were expecting the signal to raise to approach upon their arrival, but on a passenger timetable, that would be a presumably terrible idea. Back to my point, if the following train was set to stop at red at the platform (as he said, was expecting to see the leading train leaving the platform), and expecting to be within east eyesight of the leading train, how was he still booking it at line speed, clear into the rear car?
Ahh yes, questions answered as usual. Thank you.
Next question though, what halfwit would expect a conductor to get out of a perfectly good railcar and run like the dickens up an active subdivision to warn approaching trains? And they expected compliance with signal speed restrictions when many crews were unable to gauge exactly how fast that was? Your thirty and my thirty are two completely different speeds. And aren’t Metra cars now chevroned at the ends for this exact reason?
Thank You for producing this! Just North of the 27th Streeet Station Stop, there was a Signal (no longer there) that would have turned Red once #416 had passed it, and the Signal about a mile or so before it would have shown a Yellow, which South Chicago/Randolph Street Train #720 would have passed at restricted speed; but since #416 backed up, there was no way the Engineer of #720 would have have seen it change back to RED (he was already past it) or suspected anything until it was too damned late! I keep hearing it was a foggy Morning around there too...and everyone knows on those older IC Cars that they had Black Painted Ends, with very small Classification Lights, look at 7:24 (Red, White, Green, Yellow) that you could hardly see when the weather was clear, let alone when it was foggy or inclement weather. Larger (ones following trains could see) RED REAR END LIGHTS were put in over the years on all of those Highliners, and it was a vast improvement! I'm glad someone decided to document this, because my late Auntie was in the last car of Train #720, and she suffered back problems for decades after that because she was thrown from her seat! Eventually, she did return to work, but I remember her telling me she AVOIDED riding ANY Highliner MU to South Chicago that had those Cars in a consist! Some of what I wrote came from an IC Commuter Division Employee Friend (who is deceased now) and was on duty at Randolph Control Downtown (they dispatch the Tains on the Metra Electric, I'm not sure what they call it now) and I was told this back in 1974, and they lived a few streets away from where I lived. I remember the REPOSE OF THE SOULS OF THE 44 SOULS DEPARTED on that fateful day, many reading Newspapers, having a Friendly Game Of Cards, or PERHAPS SLEEP, and never knew it would be their last ride on a Train they were used to getting on everyday.
I was doing homework when this came out and Good job
I remembrr this, and it was hard to understand why it happend, so I appreciate your work!
RIP to all who died in this crash
“Further more”: now we know know.
Great video!
I hope more Documentaries and Engines of Septa come back
My dad rode the IC train from Tinley Park to downtown every morning in 71/72. We had just moved from the Chicago area in September. When we saw the coverage on tv we were surprised to say the least.
Music by Thomasfan2016
??
My cousin's friend was on that train. He had come back from service in Vietnam as a body retrieval for the medical team. He said later he blanked out and was found by EMTs, gathering bodies and their parts, putting them near the train.
I like learning about train things and this is a good video I learned a lot
I read about this on Wikipedia, this was crazy!!!
The cavalier attitude to safety rules back then is astonishing.
It was almost on par with those in the 19th century!
If you look out the window of a moving train and see the engineer, that's a bad sign.
My father was three trains behind this wreck. they had to stop, disembark & walk around this accident to another train to continue.
Looks like the old Pullmans are more durable than the Highliners. comes to show that old equipment can surpass the new.
Old is gold sometimes
You DON'T reverse direction on signaled track WITHOUT getting permission of the Train Dispatcher.
Fantastic documentary.
Finally you’re back with the train wreck over the years
Jeez, that's absolutely horrifying.
The solid yellow signal light is called “approach indication”. Slow down expecting to stop at any time. It should be treated as a speed restriction. This means stopping within half the distance of sight.
For another documentary, please do the Naperville Illinois train wreck, that was the wreck that caused all high speed rail projects to be halted.
The highliners do remind me of the older C&NW bi-level Gallery Cars which Amtrak used for a number of years.
I rode in one of those a few weeks ago. Sitting on the upper level seemed precarious enough, I can't imagine how badly the passengers might be thrown about in a collision.
@@drewzero1 Indeed, that'd probably have me nervous
I remember the C&NW bi level cars coming through Highwood when I was a kid, though I never rode a train until stationed in Europe with the Air Force.
The Amtrak ones were for medium distance travel and they were used at the end in the Valparaiso service, discontinued in 1991 as far as I remember.
I rode the IC from Ivanhoe to Randolph Street daily. I remember the crash vividly and it was very haunting to me for years. My dad was an IC suburban conductor when this accident occurred. He told me to never ride in the front or last car in the highliners after this accident.
These videos are the best rail disaster documentaries I have ever watched, can't wait for the next videos
Can ask you a question what is the worst train crash file you ever made on your channel of five years train crashes video
This is why I try to never ride in the last or first car of a train. I ride the cafe car of the Surfliner a lot. That's car 4 of a six car train.
As an instructor of engineers for Metro-North in New York, I used this accident as an example of why you should NEVER back up with out permission from the dispatcher.
Good on you! Too often history and its lessons are ignored or forgotten.
Emily: (hits thomas's ass) oooff
........thomas:(sexual noise)
14:10 On the 2001 Train Simulator they had an activity called "Riding through the Yellows" or something like that Where you had to coast the train through yellow signals on your way to your destination. Whether if it was due to a regional services delaying express trains or track maintenance.