WHITECHAPEL PRESS PRESENTS AN EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXCERPT!
From the upcoming book ILLINOIS HAUNTINGS!
GHOSTS OF THE GREAT NAPERVILLE TRAIN WRECK
By Troy Taylor
Railroads provided the first means of mechanical transportation in American and ushered in an era of swift and relatively comfortable travel. For nearly two decades, the railroads were mostly free from serious mishaps, but by the 1850s, the primitive signals, unpredictable locomotives and hastily laid lines conspired to bring about accidents, disasters and deaths. As time passed, faster moving trains, faulty warnings and unreliable human nature claimed the lives of thousands of passengers and crew members on American trains.
Few times in American railroad history has such near-criminal negligence been demonstrated as in the horrendous crash that took the lives of 47 people, mostly passengers, in Naperville, Illinois in April 1946. Not only does the true cause of the crash remain a mystery to this day, but it is also a disaster that has left lingering spirits behind.
April 25, 1946 was a pleasant spring day in Naperville, Illinois. At 1:03 p.m., a Northern Pacific train No. 11, called the Advance Flyer, was on its way from Chicago to Omaha. It pulled 13 cars, all filled with passengers, many of whom were servicemen returning home after the end of their enlistments after World War II. The train was speeding westward when it was signaled to stop at Naperville by a brakeman who thought he saw a large object shoot from beneath the train as it traveled along the tracks. What this object might have been remains a mystery as nothing out of the ordinary was ever found.
The train made an unscheduled stop at Loomis Street to check for damage. While it was being inspected, the rear brakeman, James Tagney, jumped down from the train with a large red flag in his hands and ran back along the tracks for a distance of about 800 feet. Although the track was level and straight and the afternoon was clear and sunny, Tagney waved the flag back and forth as a warning about the halted train on the tracks ahead. His efforts, though mandatory according to railroad regulations, were really supplementary since the entire route was marked by signal lights – all of which were red while the Advance Flyer was in the Naperville station.
Three minutes behind the Advance Flyer, and on the same track, was the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy train No. 39, the Exposition Flyer, which was racing toward San Francisco. Tagney could see the train coming in the distance but assumed that it would stop in time. At the throttle of the train was M.A. Blaine, a 68 year-old engineer with many years of experience.
When he realized that the Exposition Flyer was not slowing down, Tagney began to panic. He jumped up and down and shouted, even though he knew his voice would be lost over the sound of the locomotive’s engine. The Exposition Flyer kept coming and its speed was later estimated at between 80 and 86 miles per hour. All along its route, the approach signals were blinking red but Blaine either did not see them, or more inexplicably, chose to ignore them. Crew members on No. 39 later testified that they felt a slight decrease in speed, as if the service brakes had been applied, but it was not enough to slow down the speeding train.
With one last wave of the flag and a loud cry, Tagney jumped out of the path of the roaring train. He saw its fireman jump down the stairs from the cab, swing outward for a moment while holding onto a safety bar and then, moments before No. 39 smashed into the stopped Advance Flyer, fall to the ground. His body was hurtled outward from the speeding engine and he was killed when he hit the ground.
Train No. 30 tire into the rear of the Advance Flyer at full speed. Its weighty diesel engine ripped into the last car, slicing through the middle of it with the sound of screaming metal. The locomotive refused to stop, ramming halfway into the next car and sending it hurtling with such force that it buckled the next car, a lighter weight dining car, into the shape of a U, killing almost everyone inside. The next car was thrown onto its side and the remaining cars all derailed.
A total of 47 people were killed in the disaster, most of them mangled so horribly that they were barely recognizable as human. Passengers had been crushed to death, ripped into pieces and heads and body parts were severed. Rescue workers were stunned by the horrific condition of the bodies as they began pulling them from the wreckage of the two trains. In addition to those killed, 125 people were severely injured.
Peter Kroehler, the owner of Kroehler Manufacturing Company, which was across from the railroad tracks on Fifth Avenue, closed down his factory for the day and allowed his workers to aid in the rescue efforts. The factory floor was used as an emergency triage hospital for the wounded. Students from North Central College brought over the mattresses from their dorm rooms for the injured to be placed on. Ambulances then took them to hospitals in Aurora and Wheaton throughout the rest of the day and into the night.
The dead were laid out in long rows, placed side by side, on the lawns of homes along Fourth Avenue, parallel to the railroad tracks. The grim line of the dead stretched for almost a full block, from Loomis Street to the Naperville train station. Additions to the line were stopped at 3:00 p.m. when children were let out of nearby Ellsworth Elementary School and came running over to see the scene of horror. Rescue workers scrambled to move the corpses across the tracks to the Kroehler factory and they laid them out there in a room on the west side of the large brick building.
To this day, the 1946 Naperville Train Wreck ranks as one of the worst railroad disasters in American history – and its one for which no one was ever really held to be responsible.
Engineer of No. 39, M.A. Blaine, had stayed in his cab at the moment of impact and had somehow survived. He was called before a board of inquiry but he could give no satisfactory answer as to why he had not stopped the Exposition Flyer in time. He was later charged with manslaughter, but a county grand jury did not indict him, due to insufficient evidence. With no real answers as to why the disaster took place, the cause of the Naperville crash remains unsolved to this day.
And the cause of the crash is just one of the mysteries that lingers in regards to the disaster. Perhaps the most compelling is whether or not the victims of the wreck are still wandering the streets of Naperville where the accident took place. Two of the blocks of Fourth Street, directly across from the old railroad line, are said to haunted by strange happenings, from strange voices to ethereal figures, cold spots and touches by phantom hands. It was along this stretch of street where the bodies of the accident victims were laid out in long rows before being taken to the Kroehler factory on the other side of the tracks. Did the spirits of the victims stay behind near their bodies, only to be left in limbo when the corpses were then hurried away to another site? Many believe this to be the case, especially those who claim to have seen dark figures approach them in the twilight, only to vanish without a trace.
The old Kroehler factory building is also believed to be haunted. The building was first constructed in 1897 and was home to the Naperville Lounge Company, which made hand-crafted lounges and couches. The owner, James Nichols, hired one of his former college students, Peter Kroehler, to handle the business end of the company and by 1895, Kroehler had bought out the other shareholders and owned the company himself. After a devastating fire in 1913, Kroehler repaired the structure and painted its new name, Kroehler Manufacturing Company, across the factory’s south wall. The business thrived, making leather sofas, divans and bed lounges for many years but cheap mass-production later replaced handmade furniture and the company was closed down in 1982. It stood empty for many years but developers later turned the place into a shopping mall, restaurant complex and loft-style apartments. It re-opened as Fifth Street Station – home to upscale shopping and living and, according to some, a number of ghosts.
Business owners and tenants began telling eerie tales of resident spirits, believed to be linked to the Naperville train crash due to the old factory being used as both a temporary hospital and morgue. It was not hard to imagine that the weird goings-on could be linked to the macabre history of the building. Stories told of phantom footsteps, cold spots, whispers and voices, strange knocking sounds, unexplained locking of doors, slamming sounds and first-hand accounts of being touched and pushed by unseen hands. The former factory building was – and is – a very active place when it comes to the spirits of Naperville’s haunted past.
MAY 2011
May 21: Night at the Squirrel Cage Jail -- Council Bluffs, Iowa -- Private ghost hunt at one of the most unusual -- and haunted -- jails in the country! SOLD OUT!
May 27: Troy Taylor at the haunted Avon Theater in Decatur, Illinois as the Avon's Late Night Spookshows presents a FREE screening of THE UNINVITED! Join us for this classic ghost film, introduced by Troy Taylor! 10PM at the Avon Theater, 426 N. Water Street in Decatur, Illinois -- FREE ADMISSION!
May 28: Night at the Brumder Mansion -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- Private ghost hunt at the most haunted house in Milwaukee! SOLD OUT!
JUNE 2011
June 10-11: Haunted America Midwest Conference -- Haunted Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois -- Join us for our 15th annual event as we gather speakers, authors, presenters and ghost hunters from around the country for the biggest event of the year. America's Original Ghost Conference -- Accept No Imitations!
Reservations!
June 25: Night at the Brumder Mansion -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- Private ghost hunt at the most haunted house in Milwaukee
! Reservations!
June 25: Night at the Villisca Ax Murder House -- Villisca, Iowa -- Private all-night ghost hunt at the site of an unsolved mass murder and one of the most haunted houses in America -- SOLD OUT!
JULY 2011
July 2: Night at the Avon Theater --Decatur, Illinois -- For the first time, we are opening the Avon Theater for ghost hunts! Join us for this rare, private event!
Reservations!
July 2: Night at Black Moon Manor -- Greenfield, Indiana -- Join us for another chilling night at one of the most mysterious and haunting houses in Indiana!
Reservations!
July 9: Haunted Overnight at the Mansfield Reformatory -- Mansfield, Ohio -- Our second overnight ghost hunt of the year at one of America's most haunted prisons! SOLD OUT!
July 15: Join Author Taylor on Chicago's Original Resurrection Mary Tour and Go in Search of the City's Most Famous Ghost! Join Troy Taylor & Weird Chicago on Chicago's infamous Archer Avenue as we hunt for the history of this haunted region and discover the true idenity of Chicago's most famous ghost, Resurrection Mary! This is a night not to be missed as the true story of "Mary" is revealed! Limited Spots Available -- See the July schedule!
Reservations!
July 16: Night at Rolling Hills Asylum -- East Bethany, New York -- Join us for a private overnight at this haunted insane asylum in upstate New York!
Reservations!
July 16: Night at the Old Funeral Home -- Jacksonville, Illinois -- Join us for another private ghost hunt at one is becoming one of our most popular locations
! Reservations!
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© Copyright 2011 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved
