1977 Chicago Loop derailment
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The 1977 Chicago Loop derailment occurred on February 4, 1977 at approximately 5:25PM local time, when a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear ended another on a corner of the Loop during the evening rush hour. The collision forced the first four cars of the rear train off the elevated tracks, killing eleven people and injuring over 180 as the cars fell onto the street below. It remains the worst accident in the agency's history.
The crash involved a Ravenswood train (now called the Brown Line) and a Lake-Dan Ryan train (a line which followed the route of the present day western Green Line and southern Red Line). Earlier in the day, switching problems caused a third line, the Evanston Express (now the Purple Line), to run counter-clockwise around the Loop instead of its normal clockwise route. This put it on the tracks normally used by the Ravenswood and westbound Lake-Dan Ryan trains. As a result, the Ravenswood train had to stop short of the platform as it approached the first station past the turn, waiting for the rerouted Evanston Express to clear before proceeding. However, the Lake-Dan Ryan train immediately behind the Ravenswood did not stop, and proceeded against both track and cab signals. The Ravenswood struck the back of the Lake-Dan Ryan at a relatively slow speed, as the motorman, Stephan A. Martin, had just left a station. Passengers on the train reported the initial impact as nothing more then a slight bump.
However, for reasons unknown, Martin continued to apply traction power to his train after the initial impact. Since the train was comprised of multiple unit cars, this resulted in the rear cars continuing to push against the first four cars, which were on the bend of the track, but blocked by the Ravenswood train. Unable to move forward, the pressure caused the coupling bar between the first two Lake-Dan Ryan cars to bend and the ends of those two cars to be pushed in the air. The motor power was still applied, eventually pushing the first three cars upwards enough to the point that they jackknifed and fell off the tracks. The second and third cars fell all the way to the street below, while the first fell on one of the support structures for the tracks, and the fourth car was pulled off the tracks to dangle precariously between the tracks and street. The last four cars remained on the track, still in the station.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Martin had been smoking marijuana and had four marijuana cigarettes in his shoulder bag. He also had a tendency to talk to passengers while driving the train. It is theorized that, having made the normal station stop before the curve, Martin had caused the restrictive cab signal caused by the train ahead to be overridden. Distracted, he then left the station at under 15 miles per hour, which was slow enough to not trigger the automatic control, and then after the initial collision, panic or inertia caused him to move the Cineston controller forward resulting in the derailment.
As a result of the accident, the CTA forbid motermen to proceed past a red signal "on sight" without first getting permission from the Control Center.
