RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILMENTS AND COLLISION, GLEN ELLYN, ILLINOIS, MAY 16, 1976

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 deg 54' to 2 deg 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 deg 54' to 2 deg 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.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1977-3-31

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: 24 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ammonia; Crash investigation; Crashes; Curved track; Derailments; Disasters and emergency operations; Freight trains; Hazardous materials; Overturning; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Speed limits; Standards; Structural design
• Identifier Terms: Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
• Uncontrolled Terms: Anhydrous ammonia; Emergency procedures; Track geometry
• Old TRIS Terms: Rail overturning; Tank car heads; Track standards
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00157225
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Transportation Safety Board
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-77-2
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 4 1977 12:00AM