Train Wreck in Lemont, July 1905

Last month’s post was about a train wreck in Lemont on the Alton-Chicago Railroad in 1873. Today we continue the subject of train wrecks with the Santa Fe derailment that also occurred in Lemont in 1905.
 
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (Santa Fe) had planned since the late 1880s to run a line to Chicago through Lemont on the north side of the Des Plaines Valley. When construction began on the Sanitary and Ship Canal through Lemont in 1892, railroad management saw the opportunity to move the line to run near the new canal, using fill from digging the Ship Canal to elevate its tracks. The line, with a bridge over the Sanitary Canal and a small train station, was not completed until 1899, shortly before the Sanitary Canal opened. 
 
In addition to freight service which still operates on the rails today, for a time local commuter and postal trains were in service, competing with the Alton line. At that time, the notorious sin strip, Smokey Row, was still going strong in Lemont.

Smokey Row had developed to suit the tastes of the men who built the Illinois and Michigan Canal in the 1840s, and flourished thereafter for an influx of barge, quarry, and railroad men. After the close of the Columbian Exhibition, men throughout Chicagoland looking for gambling, liquor, drugs, loose women, and other such amusements found it in Lemont, where two train lines dropped them off in the heart of the district. With the addition of workers on the Sanitary Canal, by 1895 it was estimated that over 100 such dives operated in Lemont. A “Gamblers Special” was run by Santa Fe in 1903 and 1904.

Some years ago, I posted an article about Smokey Row. Here’s the link if you’re interested: https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/2015/07/local-history-lemonts-smokey-row-beginnings-and-growth/

As trains approached Lemont from Chicago, the track ran over a graded curve near the bridge over the canal. On the evening of July 29, 1905, The Pride of San Francisco entered town over the curve at 50 miles per hour, slightly faster than usual. The telegraph operator at the Santa Fe station was the first to hear and see the disaster. The engineer and fireman were not even aware of the accident at first because the engine remained on the track.
 
The axle and wheels had broken off the baggage car on the curve. The baggage car and three cars following it left the track, throwing debris in all directions, and leaving the cars hanging dangerously in a tangled mess atop an overpass at Stephen Street.
 
The telegraph operator radioed for help, estimating that 40 or more people must have been killed. As passengers climbed out of the crumpled cars, the cars began to shift. Panic ensued, fearing the rest of the train would topple off the overpass. Those passengers that escaped tried frantically to rescue those trapped in the cars, but no tools were available because the baggage car had fallen on the railroad’s tool shed. Then one of the cars burst into flame.
 
Trapped passengers now feared that either they would burn to death or be crushed when the cars tumbled down the embankment. Fortunately, the accident occurred on a Saturday night, when the town was full of people seeking entertainment. Smokey Row to the rescue! In a short time, hundreds of rescuers and the fire department arrived, attracted by the fire and the noise.
 
According to the Lemont Phoenix Advertiser and Observer of August 3, 1905: “Not a vestige of the tool shed remained standing and the tools it had contained were all buried beneath the wreckage. Stone jacks and tools were soon hurried to the scene from the quarries with willing hands to work them, and the injured were soon removed from the cars.

“William Mcvey of Joliet was one of the injured who displayed remarkable courage. For an hour he was pinned beneath the car with his right leg and arm crushed. It was necessary to raise one side of the heavy coach with stone jacks before he could be released.”

The fire was quickly brought under control, a temporary hospital was organized in the Santa Fe Station, ladders and tools were found, and the passengers helped out of the cars. At the end, only one man died, one was critically injured, and 22 passengers had serious cuts or minor injuries, thanks to the townspeople.
 
After investigation, it was concluded that the sharp curve at Stephen Street may have been partially responsible, but the wreck was likely caused by a broken axle.

Today the Santa Fe railroad carries only freight through Lemont over a historic swing bridge. There is no longer a Santa Fe train station in Lemont.

Lemont currently has two sets of tracks that run through town. A third set was the Joliet-Chicago Electric Railway that ran down Main Street. I wrote about that line in my blog on February 19. If you missed it you can read about it here:  https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/2023/02/lemont-streetcars-the-joliet-and-chicago-electric-line/

If you missed my April blog about the 1873 train wreck of the Alton-Chicago Railroad, you can read that here: https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/2023/04/lemont-train-wreck-august-16-1873/
 
Thanks to the Lemont Area Historical Society and Lemont and its People by Sonia Kallick for information that appears in this article.

News

A major theme of all four of my books explores the relationship of mothers to their children. With Mothers’ Day coming up this Sunday, it’s a perfect time to purchase a gift book for Mom! Buying information is below or come to hear me speak at the Lemont Library this Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. and have me sign a book for her.

Had a great time and met some great people in the past month. I participated in the Wheaton Library Author Fest on April 1, and on April 14 for the Downers Grove Library and Downers Grove Township Senior Center I spoke on “The Lost Town of Sag Bridge.” I repeated the “Sag Bridge” program for the residents of Franciscan Village on April 25. 

This month I have already spoken to the Lemont-Homer Glen Rotary about The Miracle at Assisi Hill, and on May 5 I was interviewed for a documentary that is scheduled to be shown on The Miracle Hunter on EWTN-TV in September. The subject of the documentary is Mother Mary Theresa Dudzik, the star of my book, The Miracle at Assisi Hill. This is my first televised interview, so the experience was quite exciting for me!

On May 11, Thursday evening at 6:30, I will be speaking at the Lemont Library about “The Settlement of Northern Illinois.” Northern Illinois was the last part of the state to be settled. I will talk about the lives of the Potawatomi who lived here at the time the first settlers arrived, how the land was surveyed for purchase, the first non-indigenous people to arrive, and the importance of Northern Illinois to the settlement of everything west of the eastern seaboard. Here’s the link to the Lemont Library registration screen: https://lemontlibrary.libnet.info/event/8172121

The program is free, but please register so the library can prepare properly. You don’t need a library card to attend – just skip that line on the registration form as it is not required. 

I will be signing books one half hour before and again after the presentation. I suggest you come early if you plan to purchase books. To check out more of my appearances, visit my website events page at: https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/about/events/ 

On May 12 I will be the featured speaker at a luncheon at Marian Village in Homer Glen, and then on May 16 I’ll be speaking about “taming the wilderness” again at Franciscan Village.

Hope to see some of you this month.