RAILROAD/HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT: ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY TRAIN NO. 1 COLLISION WITH GASOLINE TANK TRUCK AT SOUTH SECOND STREET GRADE CROSSING, LODA, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 24, 1970

About 9:55 a.m., on January 24, 1970, Illinois Central Railroad southbound passenger train No. 1, moving at a speed of 79 miles per hour on track No. 1, struck a motortruck loaded with gasoline on the South Second street crossing in Loda, Illinois. The tank of the truck was split open, spilling the gasoline which exploded and caught fire. The burning gasoline covered the exterior of the locomotive unit and entered the control compartment through the nose door, damaged nose, and other openings. Three employees of the railroad, who were occupying the control compartment of the lead locomotive unit at the time of the accident, and the driver of the motortruck received fatal injuries from the burning gasoline. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was that the operator drove the gasoline-laden truck, without stopping, onto the tracks immediately in front of the approaching train, while the crossing warning device was indicating the train's approach.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Office of Surface Transportation Safety
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1971-7-8

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Photos;
• Pagination: 28 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Derailments; Explosions; Fires; Railroad grade crossings; Tank trucks; Traffic crashes; Warning systems
• Old TRIS Terms: Grade crossing accidents; Train truck collisions
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00071612
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Transportation Safety Board
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RHR-71-1
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 12 1976 12:00AM