people say, a Ravenswood train was waiting on the tracks, just past the northeast turn, waiting for the Evanston Express to clear the State/Lake platform. However, the Lake-Dan Ryan train did not stop as it approached the Ravenswood train. The Lake-Dan Ryan train proceeded against both track and cab signals, and struck the back of the Ravenswood train. This impact was at a slow speed, as the train had only started off a few seconds earlier and was still halfway through pulling out of Randolph/Wabash. Passengers on the train reported the impact as nothing more than a slight …show more content…
It was like hanging onto the side of the mountain. I was getting awfully tired I was sort of numb and I started to slide down. “He wanted to take me out through the top, but I was afraid to go that way. So he held me and, ultimately, the two of us sort of slid to the other end of the car. He was so cute. I never knew his name, but he was trying to comfort me, kissing me on the cheek and telling me everything was going to be all right. A reporter at the time called the crash a “freak of physics” a peculiar combination of forces that created a catastrophe out of what in other places, at other times, would have been a routine