---

The following are less serious incidents that have occasionally occurred on the "L" between the formation of the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947 and the present. These may include situations in which there was very little damage or injury and incidents that caused little or no disruption of service. Also included here are those incidents which may indeed be of a serious nature, but of which we have too little specific information to create an individual page for that particular incident.

This is not an exhaustive list of accidents and mishaps that have occurred on the "L" over the last hundred years. There are, indeed, a good handful of incidents that are not listed on the site. Mostly, incidents that are omitted aren't listed because we do not know about them or have too little information to discuss them accurately and authoritatively, and in the interest of fairness we will not list incidents for which there is not corroborated information. At a later date this page will be updated as more research can be undertaken on additional incidents. If you believe you know of an incident that is not listed below, feel free to contact us and we will add it to our roster of information to be investigated at a later date.

• 1950*: Ex-Metropolitan "L" wooden car 2744 was wrecked and subsequently retired.
  .
• November 5, 1956: A deadly accident occurred when a 6000-series CTA train rammed the rear of a North Shore Line interurban stopped at Wilson to load and discharge passengers. Click here to learn more.
  .
• December 7, 1956: One person died and 34 were injured when a wooden CTA train caught fire and burned at the Howard Street station.
  .
• Late 1950s*: An accident occurred at 59th Junction when a train came off the Englewood branch at a higher than normal rate of speed and the first car went sailing into the upper floor of an adjacent apartment building. The car was rebuilt following that accident. ..

  North-South train trapped in the Tech-35th fire. For a larger view, click here. (Chicago Tribune, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .
• October 17, 1962: A fire at the Tech-35th station on the North-South Route traps a train at the station, which also becomes damaged by the fire. The lead car is 6453; it was so badly damaged by the fire that it was retired on April 5, 1963 as a result of the incident. Its mate, 6454, was used by itself in tests of the Automatic Train Control system, then renumbered 6721 and mated to 6722 (former 6310).
  ..
• December 7, 1966: Two persons were killed and 25 injured when two cars of a CTA train derailed and fell to the ground near 40th Street and Indiana Avenue. One of the cars, 6309, was retired as a result of its damages.
  .
• September 18, 1969: Three hundred persons were injured when a Jackson Park "B" train rammed an Englewood "A" train on a curve on the elevated line near 40th Street and Calumet Avenue at 5:35pm. Trains had been backed-up north of 47th Street for about 25 minutes prior to the accident because a train was stalled at a station due to failure of a door to close. The Englewood train presumably made its station stop at Indiana and then proceeded, stopping with its last car still on the curve. The following Jackson Park train, which didn't have a stop at the Indiana "A" station, passed through the station and struck the rear of the Englewood train. The lead car of the Jackson Park train tipped over on its side, shorting out the 3rd rail and cutting off power for a 20 block distance. The motorman said he didn't see the Englewood train until it was too late to stop. CTA Chairman George DeMent said that announcements about the backup had been made on the radio to warn motormen, that he should have been able to see the train as he approached the curve, and that he was traveling too fast.
  .
  Both 8-car trains were full -- it was rush hour -- and had people standing in the aisles. Three hundred people claimed to have been injured in the crash, but there were reports of people climbing the structure and falsely claiming to have been injured, so exact numbers are hard to come by. Thursday evening, fifty people walked into Billings Hospital claiming injuries. Of the estimated 300 injuries, only six required hospitalization. .

  Jackson Park "B" train on its side at 40th/Calumet. Above: For a larger view, click here. (AP wire photo, contributed by Michael Roegner) Left: For a larger view, click here. (Chicago Daily News, photo by Don Bierman, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  A number of onlookers climbed the structure and claimed to be injured. For a larger view, click here. (Chicago Daily News, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  ..
• April 16, 1971*: Car 6167-6178 was involved in a collision at Howard Street severe enough to result in the retirement of car 6167 due to the damage involved.
  .
• April 6. 1972: Forty-six persons were injured on a Thursday when the last two rapid transit cars of a four-car train derailed and plunged from the elevated structure at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue, just missing an apartment building. On the videotape "One Man's Trolleys", George Krambles said that two safety devices interacted in a way to cause the last two cars to derail. The cars, 6235-6236, were retired from service. (Note: Date is given as April 7, 1972 in some sources.) .

  Two cars derail at 40th/Wabash on April 6, 1972. One car is totally on the ground; the end can be seen under the side door of the car leaning against the structure. For a larger view, click here. (AP wire photo, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .

• November 2, 1973: Twenty-seven persons aboard a CTA special were injured when the Evanston Line train they were riding hit the rear of another at the South Boulevard station.
  .
• December 26, 1973: At 9:34am, a northbound Skokie Swift train was slowing for the Dempster stop when the brakes apparently failed. It overshot the Dempster Terminal and derailed at the switch to the return track. The car tipped over and knocked down lines carrying power to the overhead wires. Service was disrupted for 2 hours while repairs were made. The motorman and 3 passengers were on the train and the motorman and one passenger required hospitalization. .

  Car 24, tipping on its side, is tangled among the power wires near Dempster Terminal on December 24, 1973. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by John H. White for the Chicago Daily News, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .
• January 16, 1974: Two rush hour trains collided at Tech-35th on the North-South Route. A northbound "B" train was stalled at the station and was struck from behind by a northbound "A" train. Thirteen people were injured.
  .
• April 11, 1974: A two-car Ravenswood train (cars 6047-6048) fails to make a turn and derails on the Loop at Lake and Wells near Tower 18. Twenty-four passengers were injured in the accident which jammed rush hour traffic on the Loop. The first car of the Ravenswood All-Stop hung over the edge of the structure. Both cars were retired after the accident as a result of their damage and moved to the CTA Training and Behavior Education Center in the former Surface Division facility at Cermak and Ogden for training purposes. .

  Two-car Ravenswood train hangs precariously off the Loop at Tower 18 on April 11, 1974. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by United Press International and the Pacific Press Publishing Association)

  Two more view of the Thursday, April 11, 1974 Ravenswood derailment. Above: For a larger view, click here. (Photo by James O'Leary for the Chicago Tribune, contributed by Michael Roegner) Right: For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Don Casper for the Chicago Tribune, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .
• May 5, 1974: A short-circuit aboard a southbound two-car Ravenswood train at N. California and W. Leland touched off a fire, forcing 15 persons to flee the train. The only injury reported was a woman who sprained her ankle when she jumped from a car.
  .
• May 10, 1974: Two hundred twenty-five persons were injured when a Jackson Park train smashed into the rear of an Englewood train on the South Side elevated line at 29th and State Streets after one of the trains had stopped because of an equipment malfunction. (Ed.: The Chicago Daily News repeatedly mistakenly referred to one of them as an "Englewood 'B' train.") Most of the injuries were in the last car of the lead train. Many of the passengers with severe injuries were transferred to a northbound train that pulled alongside. Passengers were helped across planks laid as a bridge between the two trains. The last six cars of the following train with its passengers was moved back to Cermak Road station. Busses waited to take passengers either to Indiana to reboard other trains or to hospitals if they wanted to seek medical attention. One of the cars, 6457, was retired after the accident. This was the fifth elevated train accident of 1974. Two of them involved injuries to 50 persons, and three were derailments. None of the trains involved fell to the ground. ....

  A view of rescue efforts at the May 10, 1974 collision between a Jackson Park and an Englewood train at 29th/State. For a larger view, click here. (Chicago Daily News, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  Another view of the May 10, 1974 rescue efforts at 29th/State. For a larger view, click here. (Chicago Daily News, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .
• December 12, 1975*: Units 2091-2092 and 2111-2112 were involved in some sort of accident at the Harlem Avenue station on the Lake Street Line.
  .
• January 9, 1976: During rush hour a train crashed into the rear of another (a 6000-series and a 2200-series) at the Addison Street station of the Jefferson Park line. Click here to learn more.
  .
• February 4, 1977: Famous Loop derailment in which four "L" cars fell from the structure, killing 11 people. Click here to learn more.
  .
• September 1, 1978*: A northbound train struck another northbound train on the Harrison Curve south of the Loop. One of the trains involved was a 2000-series train. Eight people were injured. The passengers had to get off and walk to the nearest station. The accident was reported in the press as far away as in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. .

  Passengers are evacuated from a 2000-series car involved in a collision accident. For a larger view, click here. (AP wire photo, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  .
• September 24, 1979: A westbound Douglas-Milwaukee "B" train failed to stop at the Cicero crossing before the gates came down. Car 2342 hit a steel truck and derailed, stopping just short of the ticket agents booth. Flange marks can still be seen today at that location. The cars were hauled to the 54th Avenue Yard after the accident. Due to its extensive damage, car 2342 could not be run on the "L" tracks to Skokie Shops, so it was cut in half and shipped by truck instead. As of August 1999, 2341 was still sitting in the Skokie Shops yard. ....

  Car 2342 stops just short of the agent's booth after derailing into Cicero station. For a larger view, click here. (AP wire photo, contributed by Michael Roegner)

  Cars 2341-2342 in the 54th Avenue Yard on Monday October 6, 1979. As of August 1999, 2341 is still at Skokie Shops. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Peter Vesic)

  .
• December 6, 1979: Car 2130 was hit by car 2003-2004 in the Harlem yard while making a turn back move. Car 2130 fell over the side of the solid-fill embankment and crushed 4 parked cars, including a brand new 1980 Cadillac. As no passengers were in the "L" cars (since it was a yard maneuver) and no one was in any of the parked automobiles, there were no serious injuries reported.
  .
• February 21, 1993?: On the first day of service of the newly reconfigured Howard-Dan Ryan Red Line, a southbound train collided with a standing southbound train in the connector tunnel between Roosevelt/State and Cermak-Chinatown. The accident was later attributed to signal malfunction. Although there were injuries reported, there were no fatalities.
  .
• May 11, 2000: A four-car train consisting of two 2600s and two 2200s derailed on the Blue Line about a quarter mile east of the Western Avenue station around 10:25 p.m. Passengers reported a loud noise - but no impact - then felt the train come to a stop. The train's last two cars slid from the rail and nearly onto the inbound track area. About two dozen CTA workers were dispatched to the scene and used torches to break the derailed cars free from each other and jacks to move the cars back onto the outbound tracks. Passengers were led off the train and walked about to the abandoned California station, where they exited to the street. Train traffic was resumed about 4:40 a.m. the next day. The exact cause is as yet undetermined. It is believed, however, that lead cars 2317-2318 may have split a switch, causing the derailment. .

  CTA personnel on the scene of the Congress Line derailment on May 11, 2000. The Blue Line train derailed near the Western/Congress station. (Photo by Alex Garcia for the Chicago Tribune)

* = Ed.: Further details are not known or exact date unknown.
? = Ed.: Date uncertain.

Campbell, George V., North Shore Line Memories, Northbrook, IL: Domus Books, 1980.

Chicago Daily News, various articles

Chicago Sun-Times, various articles

Chicago Tribune, various articles

Cudahy, Brian J. , Destination Loop, Brattleboro, VR: The Stephan Greene Press, 1982.

Hanzell, Wesley. "Loop tragedy was second major crash in 13 months". Chicago Tribune 5 February 1977

Keevil, Walter R. and Norman Carlson (editors), Chicago's Rapid Transit Volume I: Rolling Stock/1892-1947 (CERA Bulletin 113), Chicago: Central Electric Railfans' Association, 1974.

Keevil, Walter R. and Norman Carlson (editors), Chicago's Rapid Transit Volume II: Rolling Stock/1947-1976 (CERA Bulletin 115), Chicago: Central Electric Railfans' Association, 1976.

Moffat, Bruce, The "L": The Development of Chicago's Rapid Transit System, 1888-1932 (CERA Bulletin 131), Chicago: Central Electric Railfans' Association, 1995.

Roegner, Michael: Contrinuted newspaper articles, materials, and research.

Various interviews