1950 Chicago streetcar disaster - 34 died

[greyhounds]

 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-24/site/ct-per-flash-greenhornet-0624-20120624_1_trolley-car-accidents-flames

Here are some pictures.  That PCC is totally burnt out.  God rest their souls.

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-120624-green-hornet-flashback-pictures/

[daveklepper]

Wonder if this had anything to do with conversion to buses that followed in the latter 1950's?

[richhotrain]

Incidentally, that viaduct at 63rd and State is an underpass for State Street vehicular traffic under the PRR railroad tracks shared by NYC passenger trains at that point.  Englewood Station is about 100 yards northwest of that viaduct.

Rich

[rcdrye]

daveklepper

Wonder if this had anything to do with conversion to buses that followed in the latter 1950's?

State Street (Broadway-State, Through Route 36) was one of the longer-lasting lines, being converted to bus Dec. 5, 1955.  In 1950 the CTA was still waffling a bit about continuing streetcars on the heaviest lines - including State Street.  At the time of the accident State had two lines, TR36 Broadway-State and TR16 State-Lake, with TR36 all postwar PCCs, and TR16 all pre-PCC "conventional" cars.  TR16 was cut back to just Lake Street to a downtown loop in 1951, then to a crossover at Clinton before conversion to bus in May 1954. (Lake was one of the last lines with non-PCC equipment).  The north end of TR36, the Broadway line, lasted until 1957, and Wentworth Avenue (south half of Clark-Wentworth, TR22), a couple of blocks from State Street, was the last line, ending service on June 21, 1958.

A bunch of things pushed the end of streetcar service - traffic congestion and one way streets in the Loop, overdue track renewal,  the desperate need to replace hundreds of wooden L cars...