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1911-029: 23 November 1911
Summary
| Report ID: | 1911-029 |
|---|---|
| Incident Date: | 23 November 1911 |
| Report Date: | 27 March 1912 |
| Incident Type: | Grade Crossing |
| State: | Illinois |
| Location: | Peoria |
| Railroad(s): | Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific |
| Peoria Street |
Injuries
| Count | Fatal | Serious | Minor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Passenger | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Synopsis
Like many of the early documents in this collection, this is not a formal report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, but rather a memorandum from the Chief Inspector of Safety Appliances, to be used as a basis for the report of the Commission.
This was a grade crossing accident involving a freight train and a street car. The street car entered the crossing directly in front of the train. There are two interesting facts which, although not listed as such, were probably contributing factors to the accident. One is that the motorman of the street car was very inexperienced, having been on the job only three weeks. The second is that the gates at the crossing were not operated during times of low vehicular traffic, that is, nights and Sundays.
Report Body
[Page 1]
March 27, 1912.
IN RE INVESTIGATION OF ACCIDENT ON THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY, Nov. 23, 1911.
[¶1] On November 23, 1911, there was a collision on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, at Adams Steet railroad crossing, Peoria, Ill., between a freight train and a street car, resulting in the injury of four trainmen and nine other persons.
[¶2] After investigation, the Chief Inspector of Safety Appliances reports as follows:
[¶3] This accident was caused by failure of the motorman of the steet car to stop his car before crossing the railroad tracks.
[¶4] During the winter season the street car company operates cars in both directions on this line on a five-minute schedule, from 5:20 a.m. until 12:20 a.m. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway operates three passenger trains and one freight train each way per day, and occasionally an extra freight train; engines engaged in switching service frequently pass over this crossing. Adams Street crossing is equipped with crossing gates on both sides of the railroad track, but they are not used at night or on Sunday.
[¶5] Conductor Black and Motorman Berkhiemer were in charge of the street car. On the night of the accident, [Page 2] as the street car approached the crossing, Conductor Black was standing on the car step prepared to go ahead and flag the car over the crossing, as was the practice. The motorman did not stop the car but ran it on to the crossing directly in front of an approaching freight train.
[¶6] The train involved in this accident was Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific south-bound freight train No. 286, consisting of an engine, nine freight cars and a caboose. This train was running at a speed of about fifteen miles an hour, and collided with the street car at 10:15 p.m.
[¶7] At this point the railroad track is straight, and the motorman's view of the track in the direction from which the train was approaching was unobstructed for nearly a mile. From the north there is a descending grade of about 1 per cent.The engineman of the freight train did not see the street car until it was too late to avert the collision. At the time of the accident a light rain was falling.
[¶8] Motorman Berkhiemer, who was responsible for this accident, had been in the employ of the Peoria Street Railway Company for three weeks; he had had no previous experience.
