Naperville train disaster

The '''Naperville train disaster''' occurred on April 26, 1946, at the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] [[Naperville (Amtrak station)|station]] in [[Naperville, Illinois]] when the railroad's ''[[Exposition Flyer]]'' rammed into the ''[[Advance Flyer]]'', which had made an unscheduled stop to check its running gear. The ''Exposition Flyer'' had been coming through on the same track at {{convert|85|mph|km/h}}. 47 people died, and some 125 were injured. According to initial interviews with the train crew, engineer W. W. Blaine of the ''Exposition Flyer'' (who survived with a fractured skull) immediately applied brakes upon seeing the first of two warning signals, but it was still too close to the first train to stop in time, and was still traveling in excess of {{convert|60|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} when it struck the rear of the ''Advance Flyer''. This crash is a major reason why most passenger trains in the [[United States]] only travel at a [[speed limits in the United States (rail)|speed limit]] of {{convert|79|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} or below. The CB&Q, [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad|Milwaukee Road]], and [[Illinois Central Railroad|Illinois Central]] were among railroads in the region running passenger trains at up to and above {{convert|100|mph|km/h}} in the 1930s and 1940s. The [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] ruled in 1951 that trains traveling faster must have "an [[cab signaling|automatic cab signal]], [[automatic train stop]] or [[automatic train control]] system", expensive technology that was implemented on some lines in the region, but has since been mostly removed. Following this disaster, advancements in train speed in the United States essentially halted. ==External links== *[http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2008/04/photos-of-the-5.html Photos of the Day: Naperville, Illinois Rail Disaster (1946)] *[http://www3.gendisasters.com/illinois/7341/naperville-il-disastrous-train-wreck-apr-1946 Naperville, IL Disastrous Train Wreck, Apr 1946] *[http://www.napersettlement.org/history/new_collections.htm Photos from the Naperville Train Crash of 1946] *[http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/results/result.do?query=subject:%22Railroad+accidents%22&page=1&pagesize=20&display=thumbcap More Photos of Crash] {{US-rail-stub}} {{coord missing|Illinois}}