NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Washington, D.C 20591
RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT
Adopted: August 30, 1972
DERAILMENT 0F AMTRAK TRAIN N0 1 WHILE OPERATING ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD NEAR SALEM, ILLINOIS JUNE 10, 1971
I. SYNOPSIS
Amtrak train No. 1, consisting of 14 pas- senger ears and an Illinois Central Railroad Company (ICRR) four-unit diesel electric loco- motive, while operating southward from Chicago, Illinois, to New Orleans, Louisiana, over the tracks of ICRR, derailed near Salem, Illinois, on June 10, 1971. The first two locomotive units and the first seven cars were turned over on their sides. The accident resulted in 11 fatalities and injuries to 163 people
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the displacement of the east stock rail of the southward main track by the false flange on the left-hand wheel on the leading axle of the rear truck of locomotive unit 4031 This wheel slid flat when the traction-motor armature bearings failed and locked the driving wheels Failure to detect the sliding wheels Was caused by the dispatch of the locomotive with an inoperative wheel-slip indicator
The cause of six of the eleven fatalities was the ejection of passengers through the large side windows which broke when the cars overturned. The other fatalities were caused by passengers heing ejected from the end of the car, or being struck by a cross tie, or being hurled against the inside of the car. A total of 163 passengers and employees were injured when impacted against injury—producing surfaces inside the cars.
II. FACTS
A Location of Accident
This accident occurred at Tonti, Illinois, 111.2 miles south of Champaign, Illinois, in the Champaign District of the Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR), which extends 122.2 miles southward from Champaign to Blanch Junction. Tonti, about 1.5 miles north of Salem, Illinois, is only a station point on the railroad.
In the vicinity of the accident, the two main tracks run north and south The west track is designated for southward movements and the east track for northward movements. The tracks are straight for a considerable distance to the point of the accident and the grade for south- ward trains varies from slightly descending to level.
A trailing—point crossover for the designated movements connects the two main tracks The south switch on the southward main track is 983 feet north of the Tonti station Sign. A siding, designated as the business track, parallels the southward main track on the west. The north switch of the siding is located 29 feet south of the south switch
The derailment occurred on the southward main track, 12 feet south of the point of switch of the trailing-point crossover.
State highways, county roads, and buildings
in the vicinity are shown in Figure 1
1
