Pictures on this page are from two train accidents which occurred in St. John, Indiana, May 25, 1928 and June 11, 2003. The 1928 accident pictures are from the Monon Society's "The Hoosier Line" publication, May 2000 issue. The May 25, 1928 accident involved Train # 36, the "Midnight Special", just north of St. John and happened at 5:53am in foggy weather.

The train derailed, at about 5:53am, when it hit a low-boy trailer that had hung up on a road crossing, the Old Joliet Road, 1 3/4 miles north of St John. Two Monon workers lost their lives in the accident, Bill Ballenger, the engineer, and Fred Crowder, the fireman. This information comes courstey of Mike Sink, Ken Weller, Kevin Ruble and The Monon Historical Technical Society.

The June 2003 accident took place at Shilling Brothers Lumber siding and involved a local freight. Pictures are from Ron Svetic, courtsey of Kevin Heggi. Ron is a member of the Lake County Hazardous Materials Response Team.

Picture 1. The completely destroyed tender had to be loaded on two flatcars and transported back to Lafayette. (Reid Ramey Photo)

Picture 2. Crane is getting ready to lift the coal bunker and water tank of the tender. It allowed crews access to remove the remains of the fallen railroaders (Reid Ramey Photo).

Picture 3. Destroyed engine cab and southbound wreck train as it moves into place to remove what remains of the tender (Reid Ramey Photo).

Picture 4. Baggage car jackknifed and head end was off the tracks, leaving only 10-12 feet of car still on the roadbed (Reid Ramey Photo) .

Picture 5. Picture of the tender, which had surged forward, crushed the cab area of #432, flipped over then jackknifed off the tracks to the east (Reid Ramey Photo).

Picture 6. Combination passenger car that was re-railed and moved south to St. John (Reid Ramey Photo).

Picture 7. Engine #432 lying on it's side facing northbound from the accident scene. The engine was rebuilt and served until retired in 1947 (Reid Ramey Photo).

  

Left and Right: Two pictures of CSX locomotive 1553, off the tracks listing to the right. This unit was the lead unit on the train. Ron Svetic photos.

  

Left: Caboose 903966. Right: Another view of derailed caboose and freight cars. Shilling Brothers Lumber and siding are off to the right of the picture. Ron Svetic photos.