CB&Q Downers Grove Main Street Station  Contributor's Pick!       
In 1947 the "Train of the Goddesses" (one of the second pair of Twin Zephyrs) derailed at speed and hit this station shearing off the front. Three people were killed and 30 injured in this accident. In November 1947 the repaired trainset was reassigned to Nebraska Zephyr service between Chicago and Lincoln, Nebraska along with the "Train of the Gods" (from Wikipedia and see comments below). The front (track) side of the station was rebuilt in a very different style. The station originally looked much like the CB&Q stations at Sandwich and Plano, Illinois but with outdoor waiting areas at each end. See:http://railfan44.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=786745
Date: 3/29/1964 Location: Downers Grove, IL   Map Show Downers Grove on a rail map Views: 2231 Collection Of:   Marty Bernard
Rolling Stock: CBQ DownersGrove (Other/Not Listed) CBQ station (Other/Not Listed) Author:  Marty Bernard
CB&Q Downers Grove Main Street Station
Picture Categories: Winter,Night,Station,Track This picture is part of album:  Railfan44's pre-BN Roads
Share
User Comments
Name Type Comments Date
Tristan Garrett General Talk about a blast from the past - at 16, the only familiar things are the depot building and the signals! Wonderful photo. 6/22/2007 4:00:01 AM
Mike Woodruff General The ICC accident report indicates that the derailment of Train #24 was caused by it hitting a bulldozer which had fallen off a flatcar in a freight train on the middle track. No. 24 was moving at about 73 mph when it hit the bulldozer, the locomotive involved was E5A 9914A "Silver Arrow" which was also apparently repaired and returned to service. The engineer of #24 was one of the fatalities. 6/22/2007 10:41:17 PM
Marty Bernard General Thanks Brian for the additional information. 9914A, an E6A, built in June 1941 went on to become C&S 9955 in Sept. 1961 and was traded to EMD in March 1968. 6/23/2007 8:06:40 AM
Marty Bernard General I mean E5A! 7/2/2007 8:10:19 PM
Andrew Sax General This is increadible! Very beautiful lighting, detail, composition, and history in pause. http://www.rxrsignals.net/Illinois/Downers_Grove/Main/ 10/24/2007 5:36:32 PM
Kevin Kelleher General Nice shot Marty. I completely rebuilt all of the lighting at Downers Grove in 1995 with lots of retro lighting. Its nice to see what the old lighting looked like. There was little signs of damage to the station while working in the attic and lower areas except for newer floor joists on the west side. Thanks for sharing your great pictures. 10/15/2008 7:12:54 PM
Richard Burdick General a simpler time (3 years before was born) when my hometown was a lot less cluttered, and the downtown area actually had some charm and functionality 3/8/2012 2:43:51 PM

Add a Comment:  
Please Log in to leave a Comment.  
Link to this page: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=786743