Railroad buffs aboard CTA train that derailed
A group of railroad enthusiasts had planned a daylong trip aboard a chartered Chicago Transit Authority train, but about a third of the way through the trip late Sunday morning, the train derailed.
About 40 riders who were members of or affiliated with the McHenry County-based Illinois Railway Museum were aboard the cars from the 1960s and '70s when the derailment occurred.
The group was riding aboard three of the oldest cars that remain in CTA service, when the back wheels on the last car derailed in the South Loop area about 11:30 a.m.
“I knew immediately as soon as I felt the first bang,” said Addison resident Harold Krewer, who is a retired Amtrak conductor and manager. “There was absolutely no danger that the train was going to fall off the structure.”
Krewer said the train was going about 10 mph and was pulling into an area in-between the northbound and southbound tracks to turn around when the wheels derailed.
No one was injured, and everyone inside the cars remained calm during the derailment, according to Krewer.
He said the train bumped along on the ties for about 50 feet until the cars came to a rest.
The Chicago Fire Department responded with multiple ambulances after the derailment for the EMS Plan 1 call, which is standard for any derailment.
Most riders walked down the tracks to the nearest station, but Krewer and another man were taken down from the elevated tracks in a fire department cherry-picker. Krewer said he has difficulty walking and fire officials said it was too dangerous for him to walk down the tracks.
“The CTA and everybody was very professional,” he said. “Everybody was very cool about it. Nobody panicked.”
A group of individuals who were members of the museum organized the trip for members and friends, and each passenger paid $100 for the journey that was supposed to end about 5:30 p.m.
The profits from the ride on the trains from the 1960s and 1970s will be donated to the museum.
“They are a dying breed,” Krewer said. “The museum is hoping to get a few of the cars when they are retired.”
Although the group is upset that they missed out on an opportunity to travel on the private train for the rest of the day to places commuters don't normally see, the CTA said the group will be given another trip for no charge.
“It's a great story. We went for a train ride, and it gave us a derailment for free,” Krewer said. “It's just something interesting. I did not have any idea that I was going to ride in a firetruck. That was pretty cool.”
Ÿ Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.