RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT - HEAD-END COLLISION OF AMTRAK TRAIN NO. 392 AND ICG TRAIN NO. 51, HARVEY, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 12, 1979

At 9:05 p.m., c.s.t., on October 12, 1979, northbound Amtrak passenger train No. 392 was traveling at 58.5 mph on track No. 4, at Harvey, Illinois. Illinois Central Gulf Freight Train No. 51 was waiting on track No. 3 to crossover to track No. 4 after train No. 392 went north. The switchtender on duty at Harvey aligned the crossover switch on track No. 4 seconds before train No. 392 arrived. Train No. 392 entered the crossover and struck train No. 51. The engineer and head brakeman on board train No. 51 were killed, and all 6 crewmembers and 38 passengers on board train No. 392 were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the switchtender's manual misalignment of a switch, immediately in advance of a train, which caused train No. 392 to be directed into a crossover and collide with a standing freight train on the adjacent track. The misalignment was made possible by the lack of an interlock or other positive means to prevent its movement. Contributing to the accident was the lack of training and limiting experience of the employee assigned as switchtender.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1980-4-3

Media Info

• Pagination: 35 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Casualties; Crash investigation; Crashes; Crashworthiness; Crossovers; Door handles; Frontal crashes; Job analysis; Locomotives; Operating rules; Passenger cars; Passenger transportation; Railroad switches; Railroad tracks; Railroad transportation; Supervision; Switching; Training; Trainmen; Vehicle cabs; Vehicle design; Workload
• Identifier Terms: Amtrak; Illinois Central Gulf Railroad
• Geographic Terms: Illinois
• Old TRIS Terms: Door operating mechanisms; Interlocking; Locomotive cab crashworthiness; Passenger car design; Switch point control; Switching systems; Trainman's tasks
• Subject Areas: Design; Education and Training; Passenger Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00314289
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-80-3
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 1980 12:00AM