A FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR CHICAGO CAME CLOSE TO magnifying into a major incident Sunday afternoon.  Two Canadian Pacific trains were meeting on opposite tracks in the Chicago, Illinois, suburb of Northbrook shortly after 3 pm when some of the cars left the tracks.  The errant cars collided with the oncoming train and when it was done, there were 18 cars derailed.  Both trains were hauling grain and clay.

Larry Shapiro photo

Two of them tumbled off a bridge onto a roadway below, but fortunately there were no vehicles there at the moment.  Several other cars went over an embankment and were on their way to taking out two large propane tanks mounted on foundations.  The possible ka-boom was prevented by a collection of railway architecture that “caught” the cars as they were sliding down the bank.

Larry Shapiro photo

When all the sizeup was done, there were no injuries and the haz-mat teams from MABAS Division 3 were returned to quarters after the threatened propane tanks had been placed on flatbeds and removed.  The tank removal was expected to take about 20 minutes, but an eyewitness tells us that the propane company’s truck positioned improperly and got stuck in the mud.  It had to be towed out before the transfer could take place about an hour later. 

A nearby strip shopping center was evacuated, but has been re-opened today.  The road that passes under the tracks will be closed for several days.

Fire photographer Larry Shapiro was on the scene and has posted a 99-image photo gallery  HERE.
(Be sure to click on the panorama views, too.)

There are more details of the wreck in the Daily Herald HERE