RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: DERAILMENT OF AMTRAK TRAIN ON ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF RAILROAD, GOODMAN, MISSISSIPPI, JUNE 30, 1976

About 8:17 a.m., on June 30, 1976, 2 locomotive units and 11 cars of Amtrak Train No. 59 derailed on the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company's track near Goodman, Mississippi. Thirty-four of the 145 passengers on the train were injured, 11 crewmembers were injured, 6 trackmen were injured, and 1 trackman was killed. Property damage amounted to about $453,100. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the tipping of the east rail and widening of track gage when the track structure was unable to withstand the lateral forces generated by excessive oscillations of the locomotive trucks due to irregularities in the track alignment and cross level, the wet ballast and subgrade, and the train's excessive speed. The excessive oscillations occurred even though track alignment, track surface, and crosstie spiking complied with the minimum requirements for FRA Class 4 track, indicating that these FRA requirements are inadequate. As a result of its investigation of the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board submitted three recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration concerning its track safety standards.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1977-4-7

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Defects; Derailments; Equipment replacement; Gage (Rails); Hunting (Dynamics); Overturning; Passenger trains; Railroad rails; Railroad ties; Railroad tracks; Speed limits; Standards; Structural design; Three axle trucks; Trucks
• Identifier Terms: Amtrak; Illinois Central Gulf Railroad
• Uncontrolled Terms: Track geometry
• Old TRIS Terms: Cross tie replacement; Rail overturning; Track gauge; Track irregularities; Track standards
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00157226
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Transportation Safety Board
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-77-3
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 4 1977 12:00AM