1971 Salem, Illinois, derailment

Train crash in Salem, Illinois on June 10, 1971 February 2025 1971 Salem, Illinois, derailment 1971 Salem, Illinois derailment aerial.jpeg Aerial view of the wreck 38.665431 -88.977421 type:event_region:US-IL dms inline,title 1971 06 10 about 12:30 P.M. Salem, Illinois United States Illinois Central Railroad Amtrak Derailment Mechanical fault on lead engine 1 211 10 163 The 1971 Salem, Illinois derailment occurred on June 10, 1971, when Amtrak's City of New Orleans passenger train derailed near Salem, Illinois. It is sometimes referred to as the Tonti derailment, after the unincorporated community of Tonti, Illinois, which was the site of the crash. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the derailment was caused by a false flange on a flat wheel caused by a seized axle bearing. The crash killed 10 people and injured 163. It was Amtrak's first fatal accident since assuming control of most intercity passenger trains in the United States on May 1, 1971. Accident thumb|left|Illinois Central EMD E8 #4026, sister locomotive to #4031, leading the City of Miami through Kankakee, Illinois, in 1964 Amtrak #1, the City of New Orleansnb Between May 1, 1971, and November 14, 1971, when Amtrak issued a new timetable, all trains were officially nameless and used the numbers assigned by their previous operator. This train had been Illinois Central #1, the City of New Orleans. Amtrak replaced it with the Panama Limited in November.Sanders 2006 94 departed Chicago's Central Station at 8:00 AM CT on June 10, 1971. The City of New Orleans was a daytime train between Chicago and New Orleans, Louisiana. Up until April 30, 1971, it had been operated by the Illinois Central Railroad, but passed to Amtrak when the latter assumed operation of most intercity service in the United States. It was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans at 1:30 AM on June 11. The train was composed of 15 cars: a baggage car, 11 coaches, a diner-counter, a lounge car, and a combination coach/food service car. Amtrak had inherited or leased this equipment from other railroads. A set of four leased Illinois Central EMD E-units of various models pulled the train: E8A #4031 (leading), E9Bs #4109 and #4106, and E10A (a rebuilt E8A) #2024 (formerly #4032).NTSB 1972 9 The train was carrying 211 passengers after departing Effingham. The lead locomotive assigned to the train was #4031, an EMD E8A originally manufactured in 1952. The E8 developed 2250 hp from two 12 cylinder model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two traction motors on one truck.NTSB 1972 3–6 During the run south from Chicago the #2 engine on #4031 failed and could not be repaired. After a crew change in Champaign, Illinois, the new crew observed the #2 engine respond to the throttle and concluded that it was operational again. South of Champaign the Illinois Central main line was double track with crossovers. As the train passed over one of these crossovers at Tonti, #4031 derailed.NTSB 1972 10 #4031 was badly damaged in the derailment lying on its side 1031 ft m south of the derailment point; #4109, immediately behind, caught fire and was destroyed. The rear two locomotives remained upright and suffered little damage. The lead baggage car and first five coaches were destroyed. The remaining eight cars suffered varying degrees of damage. Eleven people were killed and 163 were injured. Six of the eleven fatalities occurred when passengers were ejected through large side windows.NTSB 1972 11 It was Amtrak's first fatal accident. Investigation thumb|right|Flat spots on a wheel on #4031's rear truck The NTSB investigation found flat spots on the rear truck of #4031. Inspection of the tracks between Tonti and Effingham, Illinois, revealed markings where the wheels had slid instead of spun. Further investigation revealed that the truck's traction motor had seized prior to the accident, and that the wheels had probably locked at Effingham during a station stop. The locked wheels created a false flange. When the compromised wheel reached the switch at the crossover at Tonti it derailed.NTSB 1972 14–22 #4031 had made another run from Chicago to New Orleans on June 6. Engine #2 had failed on that trip as well and was shut down in New Orleans. As an added precaution the reverser for the engine was locked in neutral for trip to Chicago. Shutting down the engine and locking the reverser in neutral had the effect of disabling the wheel slip indicator, which would notify the locomotive engineer that a wheel was slipping or sliding.NTSB 1972 8–9; 25 While #4031 was repaired in Chicago, the Illinois Central maintenance forces did not observe that the reverser was locked and did not realize that power was not being supplied to the rear truck.NTSB 1972 34 Aftermath The NTSB found that the mechanical faults in Illinois Central locomotive #4031 caused the derailment. It recommended improvements in wheel-slip detection devices for locomotives and in pre-departure testing procedures. The NTSB also recommended that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) draft safety standards to address the ejection of passengers through windows in the event of accidents.NTSB 1972 35Salem train wreck results in plea for tighter regulations https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1494014/ntsb_salem_report/ The Southern Illinoisan November 29, 1972 13 Newspapers.com October 5, 2014 Around the beginning of 2025, Henderick Morton, a University of Missouri journalist student from Salem, Illinois started a goal of identifying the only unidentified decedent of the crash. When exhuming this person's grave, it was revealed through x-rays that there were at least two, possibly three, unidentified victims inside the grave, one of whom appeared to be a child. The DNA Doe Project later joined the investigation.Mystery deepens: Multiple remains found inside grave tied to 1971 train crash https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/illinois/mystery-deepens-multiple-remains-found-inside-grave-1971-crash/63-7b79c927-9bdd-4808-9536-c2d8fc4de3c0 Kurwicki Holden June 18, 2025 July 10, 2025REMAINS OF TWO INDIVIDUALS DISCOVERED IN BODY BAG OF UNKNOWN TONTI TRAIN CRASH VICTIM https://www.wfiwradio.com/2025/06/14/remains-of-two-individuals-discovered-in-body-bag-of-unknown-tonti-train-crash-victim/ Wells Mark June 14, 2025 July 25, 2025 On August 18, 2026, the DNA Doe Project announced that the remains belonged to 34-year-old Katherine Adams and her 3-year-old daughter Gladys Adams. The Adams girls, both from Chicago, were known to have perished in the crash.Tonti Train Wreck 1971 Doe #1 DNA Doe Project 10 June 1971 https://dnadoeproject.org/case/tonti-train-wreck-1971-doe-1/ 19 August 2026 Notes nb Endnotes 30em References Derailment of Amtrak train no. 1 while operating on the Illinois Central Railroad near Salem, Illinois, June 10, 1971 NTSB National Transportation Safety Board 1972 9554867 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NTSB_RAR-72-5.pdf - Read online at ROSAP (USDOT website) External links 1971 Salem, Illinois derailment Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois Category:Railway accidents in 1971 Category:1971 in Illinois Category:Accidents and incidents involving Amtrak Category:Accidents and incidents involving Illinois Central Railroad Category:1971 disasters in the United States Category:Marion County, Illinois Category:Derailments in the United States Category:June 1971 in the United States