Larry Miller III posted five photos with the comment:
Fifty years ago today on June 21, 1970, the town of Crescent City, Illinois was waking up to a relaxing Father's Day. Eastbound TP&W train No. 20 was passing through downtown, and suddenly derailed due to a suspected hotbox. Sixteen cars of the 109-car train derailed in the center of downtown, and ten of those cars were full of liquid propane. A coupler from another freight car punctured one of the tank cars, and the contents ignited instantly.Within minutes, there was a large fire in the center of town and it was growing rapidly. Around 7:30, A. M., the first of several explosions sent a fireball thousands of feet into the air above Crescent City. During the first explosion, firefighters were less than 100 feet away from the tank car.56 hours after the derailment on June 23, the final fire burned out. 70 people had been injured, but amazingly there were no deaths. Most of the downtown area of Crescent City had been completely destroyed, and while the town did rebuild, many lots once occupied by buildings prior to the wreck are now parking lots, giving an eerie reminder of the events on June 21, 1970. Attached are some photos of the wreck by Leona Smith of Woodland, Illinois, courtesy of Matt Smith. You can also find video footage of the wreck here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=292XmN5LUAMPhotos courtesy of the TP&W Historical Society Facebook Group and Thomas Dyrek
Joann R Lambert: My Dad was one of the Firemen who fought the fires and put out what they could. There was a major problem since the train was so long, it blocked both railroad crossings. This made it hard to get firefighting equipment to both sides of the tracks. That is why they have two fire stations in the community. I actually saw the fireballs in the air and even saw the damage afterward. It was devastating to the area. I am glad that so much has come back. It looks nice now. They even have a memorial area by the railroad tracks. There are a lot of pictures and huge rocks that are printed on with information about it.
Ed Beard: As a Fire Fighter, I remember classes being fought on how far to stay away from a derailment fire. They stated that a quarter mile was just right to watch a tank car go over your head.
Trenton Dominy: I went to a Burlington Route historical society meeting in Utica Illinois and mentioned the crescent city derailment and Bleve and a person there said that the defective car was actually on the westbound TP&W train and passed through crescent city when a crew member noticed the smoking car.
They left it on a siding a few miles from crescent city but the crew forgot to inform the dispatcher and when the eastbound train passed by the railcar they picked it up and put it in their train thinking it was for them then finally the car derailed and caused the massive explosion.
David Brann: BLEVE. Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. Puncture a container holding a flammable substance liquid under pressure, provide a source of ignition, and you don't want to be anywhere near it!
Chad Allen Ingold: What fire departments were involved?
Hank Vinson: Chad Allen Ingold , Manteno, Il was one of many , Kankakee city , some twp from Ind , were one of dozens ..
I placed the fifth photo at the top so that the BLEVE would be the signature photo of these notes.
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| 5 Jon Roma: The explosion in Decatur, IL on July 19, 1974 was yet another incident that caused rethinking of how hazardous material transportation and firefighting evolved during the Seventies. Trenton Dominy: This explosion and another explosion which resulted in several deaths in Kingman Arizona were instrumental in teaching firefighters across the nation about the dangers of flammable liquids and how to safely attack them to extinguish the fires. |
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| 1 Trenton Dominy: How that grain elevator survived a direct hit from both the derailment/fire and explosion and most of it is still standing today is amazing. |
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| 2 Karen Zeedyk-Anglin: Yes that was Father’s Day! That’s when the tank car died up in grandmas yard after the train wreck and explosion. The house was 2 or 3 blocks from the tracks. This was in Crescent City Illinois! |
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| Jacob Rajlich commented on Larry's post Perhaps the neatest photo of the explosion came from the air! Incredible that no one was killed. |
This verifies that the town used to have some 19th Century Italianate architecture.
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| 1:27 video @ 0:19 |
The explosions explain why the downtown is now looks like a 1970s strip mall. I think I read that 30 buildings were destroyed.
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| Street View |
I'll bet they were "jumbo" tank cars instead of "jungle." The video mentions that the tank cars were not insulated back then and they were not designed to be strong enough to resist punctures. The fire started because a coupler punctured one of the tank cars. The explosions happen when an intact tank car gets so hot that it ruptures because of the increased gas pressure and all of its liquid content flashes into vapor very quickly. Thus the name Boling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE). And those explosions can throw a tank car a big distance like a rocket.
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| 2:31 video @ 1:30 |
Tommy's comment on Photo 1 caused me to look for the old grain elevator. Unfortunately, none of the street view drivers got off the beaten path in this town. (I'm used to most Midwest towns being covered pretty well.) But I did catch this glimpse that allowed me to locate the old elevator in the satellite image. I included part of the fall protector as a reminder that TP&W is a shortline railroad that is willing to serve small country elevators.
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| Street View |
I found the memorial park that Joann's comment mentioned, and it provides another view of the old elevator.
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And one of the videos above taught me that this is also part of the memorial. And it provides another view of the old elevator.
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| Street View |
Photo 1 shows that Wheatfield Grain had added metal bins to expand their capacity by 1970. And Photo 5 indicates that they had also added storage in long buildings. That would explain why these buildings look rather old.
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| Street View |
There are some big farms in the area. It takes some significant coin to buy that kind of equipment.
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When I checked out a blue tank that I saw in a satellite image, I discovered that the town has at least one other grain elevator. I recognize CHS as a big agriculture company from their elevator in Superior, WI. Goggle Maps labels this United Prairie, so I don't know who has bought whom. I presume that tank holds liquid fertilizer.
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| Street View |
This elevator is more modern and appears to use just two long buildings for grain storage.
In addition to liquid fertilizer, the town also sells compressed gas fertilizer. Google Maps labels this facility "Propane Refill," but I'll bet most of those tank trailers are used to haul anhydrous ammonia (NH3) to the fields.
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| Street View |
I need to up the priority of doing a field trip down US-24 from the Indiana border to Peoria.
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