Steam & Excursion > Mother Told Me There'd Be Days Like This... (Edited for clarity)

Here is a trio of old news images from my collection.

#1. Illinois Central's train #1, the southbound Creole, rear-ended freight #87 at Mattoon, Illinois, on November 21, 1939. Somehow the engine crew took the train from Champaign to Mattoon without realizing the cab signals and ATS was cut out. They thought they were running with clear track ahead until it was too late. Fortunately there were no fatalities, but eight were injured.

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#2. Northbound #6, the all Pullman Panama Limited, left Centralia, Illinois, five minutes late behind Pacific #1188. Just a few miles north of Centralia, the train entered the Champaign District and ATS territory. Only minutes later, the cab signals and train stop equipment failed. At Odin, the next train order office, the crew reported the problem and were instructed to "proceed at a speed you consider safe. 2nd 4 passed Kinmundy at 4:05 AM..." In other words, 2nd #4 (The Louisiane) was only about 20 miles ahead of #6 and was running late.

The crew of 2nd #4 was given the following at Effingham, their next stop: "Come to Champaign ahead of #6 unless otherwise advised. Automatic train control has failed on #6's engine. Do not give them a short flag."

Train #6 departed Effingham 38 minutes after 2nd #4 had left, and was only 10 minutes behind 2nd #4 departing Mattoon.

At Humboldt 2nd #4's engineer caught a restricting signal, which he presumed was from 1st #4 up ahead. Then at the Arcola station, the 2nd #4 was flagged to pick up a passenger. The flagman was not sent out, as the train would be stopped for only a few seconds to let the single passenger board. With the passenger aboard, the train began moving and had only moved a few car lengths before being rear-ended by #6.

The flagman said he had dropped a fusee before the stop, but it evidently hit the rail and between that and several inches of snow on the ground it failed to burn properly. It was too late to avoid a collision by the time he realized the fusee was not doing its job. The engineer and fireman of #6 said they were only 700 to 800 feet from the rear of 2nd #4 when it first came into view, and the speed was reduced from 50mph to between 20 and 25mph by the time of the collision.

1 passenger died, with 105 passengers and 22 employees injured.

The flagman was faulted for failing to drop lit fusees as 2nd #4 slowed. The engineer of #6 was faulted for his speed with no cab signals; the train had averaged over 70mph for the 12 miles approaching Mattoon. He had operated in this fashion with faulty ATS equipment before without incident, and nothing was said.

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#3. On October 20, 1943, a hostler was moving Pacific #1146 from the turntable into the roundhouse in Paducah, Kentucky. The brake system had lost its pressure, and when the engine entered the roundhouse he found himself unable to stop it. Through the wall it went, taking out part of the air brake room where another employee was working, before nosing through the outer wall and coming to rest at an angle and facing Kentucky Avenue. The employee in the air brake room was roughed up by falling debris and the hostler was shaken up, but neither were seriously hurt.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/18 14:50 by MaryMcPherson.

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Speaking of Arcola: this mural is across the street and down the block from the Arcola station, which still stands today. Just visible behind the locomotive is an intersection. The street that crosses the track is actually a block north of the point of the accident; the next crossing to the south is visible in the wreck photo. 2nd #4 was a long train at 12 cars with 4-8-2 #2412 in charge.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/18 19:38 by MaryMcPherson.

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Wonderful post—thank you!

Nothing like going through Arcola, Illinois during broomcorn festival weekend and seeing the live bands, the street viewers, and vendors get into some Arlo Guthrie safely while the main line tends to business.

MaryMcPherson wrote:

> The crew of #6 was given the following at Effingham, their next stop: "Come to Champaign ahead of #6 unless otherwise advised. Automatic train control has failed on #6's engine. Do not give them a short flag."

The above paragraph doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't the phrase "The crew of #6 was given..." be "The crew of 2nd #4 was given..."

> Train #6 departed Effingham 38 minutes after 2nd #4 had left, and was only 10 minutes behind #4
departing Mattoon.

The above line also doesn't make any sense. If #6 was closer to #4 than it was to 2nd #4, then how did it manage to run into the rear of 2nd #4 and not #4?

> At Humboldt, the engineer caught a restricting signal, which he presumed was from 1st #4 up ahead.

Another line hard to understand since just prior to this line, the narrative is about what #6 is doing. Behind the word "engineer," the phrase "of 2nd #4" needs to be inserted.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/18 14:03 by johnsweetser.

johnsweetser Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MaryMcPherson wrote:
>
> > The crew of #6 was given the following at
> Effingham, their next stop: "Come to Champaign
> ahead of #6 unless otherwise advised. Automatic
> train control has failed on #6's engine. Do not
> give them a short flag."
>
> The above paragraph doesn't make any sense.
> Shouldn't the phrase "The crew of #6 was given..."
> be "The crew of 2nd #4 was given..."
>
> > Train #6 departed Effingham 38 minutes after 2nd
> #4 had left, and was only 10 minutes behind #4
> departing Mattoon.
>
> The above line also doesn't make any sense. If #6
> was closer to #4 than it was to 2nd #4, then how
> did it manage to run into the rear of 2nd #4 and
> not #4?
>
> > At Humboldt, the engineer caught a restricting
> signal, which he presumed was from 1st #4 up
> ahead.
>
> Another line hard to understand since just prior
> to this line, the narrative is about what #6 is
> doing. Behind the word "engineer," the phrase "of
> 2nd #4" needs to be inserted.

Quite right, though in my defense a cat was fighting the laptop for lap space.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions