Vintage track vehicles

TWA Flight 154 departed San Francisco at 00:45 on an Instrument Flight Plan for New York with one stop scheduled at Chicago in December of 1949. Over Moline, IL, Chicago Air Route Traffic Control cleared the flight to Aurora Illinois, and instructed it to hold west of the Aurora Intersection because of an estimated two-hour traffic delay. Flight 154 reported over the Aurora Intersection at 07:03, and a few minutes later the captain requested a clearance to return to Omaha. This clearance was granted. Seven minutes later, at 07:10, while en route to Omaha the company issued the flight revised instructions to proceed to Kansas City. While en route to Kansas City, the company's Kansas city dispatcher informed the flight that if they returned to Chicago's Midway immediately, an approach clearance could be obtained without delay. Accordingly, the flight returned to Chicago and upon arrival there approach control cleared it to make an ILS approach and to land on runway 13R. At this time the Chicago weather was reported: ceiling 300 feet, visibility 1-1/2 miles with moderate fog and smoke, and wind west-southwest at 8 mph. The ILS approach was abandoned at the captains discretion and he started another. On this second approach the aircraft was observed to touchdown approximately 3,200 feet from the approach end of the runway. From this point, it traveled the remaining 2,530 feet of the runway, traveled 875 feet beyond the far end of runway 13R and went through a heavy wire fence, crossed a parking lot and struck a billboard and a large ornamental stone pillar before coming to rest. Contact with these structures extensively damaged the aircraft.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the execution by the pilot of a final approach at an excessive air speed and a landing too far down the runway."

 

Wow.
That's awesome. I love it!

 

I have several 50' double-door boxcars in HO, and multiples of a couple cars, and plan to duplicate that in HO. Those boxcars are all equipped with Evans Autoloader setups, that loaded and raised two cars inside, so as to make room for two more cars underneath, for a total of four autos per boxcar. Each upper rack was raised and lowered by winch, and crews used specially-designed wheeled axle jacks, so as to rotate a car's front or rear sideways to get the car into the boxcar quickly but not always easily.

 

Somebody has a good story on that '58 Olds convertible vs 'train' accident..........

 

August 19, 1949. Forty four were injured at the Canaan Depot when two Boston & Maine passenger trains collided. The southbound train was waiting on the siding at the depot when a crew member on the incoming northbound train inadvertently threw the switch for the siding, allowing the northbound to crash head on into the awaiting southbound train. Ambulances and doctors were immediately started for Canaan and brought the injured to Mary Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover. Credit should be given to the Canaan Telephone Exchange office for their quick work in calling for help.
Unknown photographers.