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which had just fallen off a westbound freight train. The engineer, who later died from his injuries, told rescuers that he saw the tractor fall and immediately applied the brakes. At impact the locomotive went airborne, broke away from the trainset, landed on its side, skidded through the station,
252:
The response was fast. A signalman from the nearby tower went east and used flares to stop a westbound freight while a brakeman from the Zephyr climbed out a window after the crash and went west to flag a following local passenger train. The fire department, police, and townspeople (along with a
249:
and caught fire. The first two cars jack-knifed into an empty office and waiting room of the brick masonry station building, which by chance had been closed early for the night. The freight train had just cleared the scene when all three tracks running through the depot were torn up.
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364:"Interstate Commerce Commision, Report of the Accident Investigation Occuring on the CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY RAILROAD, DOWNERS GROVE, IL"
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troop) quickly began giving aid. Police from nearby towns also came to help, along with state police. After being given
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A policeman parked in the cab-stand watched the locomotive skid past him, his squad car was damaged by flying debris.
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At 10:41 PM, approaching the
Downers Grove station at about 75 miles per hour (121 km/h), the eastbound
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less than a year earlier, there was no question of wrongdoing at the scene. On May 8, 1947, a
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288:(the shipper) and the Burlington were negligent in loading and inspecting the tractor.
273:. Two died and more than 30 were injured, the train's engineer died three days later.
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in April 1947, along with photos and recollections) retrieved
September 16, 2010
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226:. The train carried many college students and others traveling for the coming
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30:
734:
Accidents and incidents involving
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
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at a doctor's office across from the station or in the lobby of the
503:. Heritage Festival Task Force of Downers Grove. pp. 153–154.
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The impact site was at Forest Ave., one block west of the station
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454:"Downers Grove, Il train derails & crashes into depot"
432:"Speeding Train Hits Tractor and Depot; Two Die, 25 Hurt"
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499:Dunham, Montrew; Wandschneider, Pauline (1982).
16:1947 railway accident in Illinois, United States
304:Scheduled as the southbound "Afternoon Zephyr"
613:
571:"Photos Bare Clew to Cause of Zephyr Wreck".
8:
550:"6 Inquiries in Zephyr Wreck;Tractor Blamed"
313:Five cars of this set, as well as a CB&Q
744:Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois
586:"Jurors Blame Zephyr Wreck on Negligence".
407:. Andover Junction. pp. 45–55, 83–86.
222:#9914A pulling a seven car trainset called
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552:. The Milwaukee Sentinel. April 5, 1947
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195:Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
134:Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
764:April 1947 events in the United States
434:. The Milwaukee Journal. April 4, 1947
485:(newspaper articles, mostly from the
7:
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193:happened on April 3, 1947, at the
14:
739:Derailments in the United States
709:
704:
265:, the injured were taken to the
456:. April 6, 1947. Archived from
269:or Copley Memorial Hospital in
185:(sister "Minerva" was in wreck)
382:"Twin Cities Zephyr trainsets"
368:Interstate Commerce Commission
183:60-seat coach "Neptune" (1968)
1:
224:"The Train of the Goddesses"
528:. Arcadia. pp. 46, 56.
654:Downers Grove, Illinois, US
780:
666:Polesworth, United Kingdom
501:Downers Grove 1832 to 1982
384:. streamlinerschedules.com
284:Coroner's jury found that
749:Railway accidents in 1947
699:
672:Doncaster, United Kingdom
648:Saitama Prefecture, Japan
628:Railway accidents in 1947
403:Zimmermann, Karl (2004).
317:E5, are preserved at the
278:Naperville train disaster
191:Downers Grove train wreck
28:
24:Downers Grove train wreck
678:Dugald, Manitoba, Canada
660:Camp Mountain, Australia
524:Dunham, Montrew (2003).
246:caterpillar-type tractor
754:Downers Grove, Illinois
690:Goswick, United Kingdom
526:Downers Grove Revisited
319:Illinois Railway Museum
286:International Harvester
230:weekend and was due at
69:Downers Grove, Illinois
684:London, United Kingdom
487:Downers Grove Reporter
186:
51:; 77 years ago
483:Zephyr Wreck of 1947"
182:
95:41.79556°N 88.00889°W
405:Burlington's Zephyrs
152:Obstruction on line
100:41.79556; -88.00889
91: /
680:(1 September)
650:(25 February)
212:Twin Cities Zephyr
204:Twin Cities Zephyr
187:
124:Twin Cities Zephyr
49:April 3, 1947
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692:(26 October)
686:(24 October)
641:Location and date
267:Hinsdale Hospital
218:at 5:10 PM with
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575:. April 5, 1947.
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370:. May 26, 1947.
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237:at midnight.
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139:Incident type
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114:United States
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662:(5 May)
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554:. Retrieved
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462:. Retrieved
458:the original
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436:. Retrieved
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386:. Retrieved
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276:Unlike the
216:Minneapolis
197:station in
98: /
74:Coordinates
728:Categories
350:References
157:Statistics
143:Derailment
86:88°00′32″W
83:41°47′44″N
56:1947-04-03
556:March 27,
438:April 27,
388:April 27,
315:(C&S)
259:first aid
255:Boy Scout
232:Chicago's
214:had left
61:22:41 CST
131:Operator
66:Location
630: (
170:Injured
111:Country
54: (
41:Details
532:
507:
464:May 3,
411:
271:Aurora
242:Zephyr
228:Easter
220:EMD E5
162:Deaths
292:Notes
149:Cause
715:1948
702:1946
632:1947
558:2016
530:ISBN
505:ISBN
466:2016
440:2016
409:ISBN
390:2016
210:The
189:The
119:Line
46:Date
321:in
173:30+
730::
474:^
423:^
366:.
634:)
621:e
614:t
607:v
560:.
538:.
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481:"
468:.
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392:.
165:3
58:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
