About 4:25 a.m. on May 16, 1976, the locomotive and 27 cars of Chicago and North Western freight train No. 242 derailed as they moved eastward on a 1 degrees 54' to 2 degrees 15' compound curve just west of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Another CNW freight train, No. 380, was moving eastward on an adjacent track at the time and struck the derailed cars of No. 242; the locomotive and nine cars of train No. 380 derailed. The tankhead of train No. 380's fifth car was punctured during the derailment by the coupler of an adjacent car; this released anhydrous ammonia into the atmosphere. Fourteen persons were injured as a result of the derailment and release of the ammonia. Damage from the accident was estimated to be $1,914,600. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the overturning of the outside rail of a 1 degrees 54' to 2 degrees 15' compound curve because the rail was unable to withstand the lateral forces of the locomotive induced by the speed of the train on track which did not comply with Federal Track Safety Standards.
Railroad Accident Report, Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, Freight Train Derailments and Collision, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, May 16, 1976
1977
26 pages
Report
No indication
English