— 34 Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Passengers on Trolley Trapped in Truck Crash.” 5-26-50

— 34 Hanzell. “Loop Tragedy…Second…Crash…13 Months,” Chicago Tribune, Feb 5, 1977.

— 34 Hughes, Bob. “Flaming Death in the Green Hornet Crash of May, 1950.” Tribune, 6-9-85.

— 34 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 140.

— 34 National Safety Council. Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.

— 34 Trowbridge. “Streetcar fire among the worst traffic accidents in city’s history.” 6-24-2012.

— 33 Cowan, Great Chicago Fires…, “Streetcar Named Disaster,” 2001

— 33 Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Explosion, Fire Costs 33 Lives.” 5-26-1950, p. 1.

— 33 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

— 33 O’Keefe, Phil. “The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster – Chicago, May 25, 1950.”

— 33 Taylor, Troy. “The Trolley of Death – The Green Hornet Trolley Disaster,” 2003.

— 32 Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “6 Probes Started in Trolley Fire.” 5-27-1950, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Cowan: “At 6:34 p.m. Manning was driving his Green Hornet at a speed estimated to be about 35 m.p.h., dangerously fast for the wet conditions ahead. The CTA [Chicago Transit Authority] flagman on duty was standing alongside the tracks at 62^nd Place, one block north of the turnaround when Manning’s streetcar came into view. As it fast approached his position, the flagman waved his signal to warn the motorman to slow down and stop. But instead of slowing, the streetcar kept speeding… The flagman began waving more frantically as he attempted to warn the driver that a switch in the track was open for a turn that would put directly in the path of oncoming northbound traffic….

“The ensuing explosion rocked the entire neighborhood, and the burning gasoline overtook seven neighboring buildings. So hot was the petroleum-based fire that it twisted steel, fused and cracked windows, and melted sections of asphalt on the street. The walls of several buildings collapsed, though the occupants escaped safely. Drivers and passengers of automobiles lined up in traffic also managed to escape. Thirty people, however, did sustain injuries, some with serious burns.” (Cowan 2001)

Hughes: “It was one of the worst traffic accidents in the history of Chicago–or anyplace else. In a streetcar burning with gasoline-fed flames, 34 people died. They died choking and screaming and struggling frantically to escape from the flames. Another 50 people who were on the streetcar or in nearby homes suffered injuries. It happened at 63d and State Streets on May 25, 1950, when a streetcar collided with a gasoline truck.

“The streetcar, a streamlined ‘Green Hornet’ traveling south on State Street, was being switched east into a ‘turnaround’ on 63d Street to avoid a flooded underpass beneath a viaduct in the next block, and switches were accordingly set for the streetcar to make the turn.

“But the streetcar was going too fast, a flagman at the intersection later said. Noting the streetcar’s excessive speed from two blocks away, he tried to flag it down, he said, but in vain. ‘I started waving when the car was about a block away, but it kept on coming. Then I really began waving. I jumped back . . . .’

“Evidently the motorman, who had been involved in 10 accidents in the preceding 16 months, was going too fast. He also could have been unaware he was being switched to make the turn. He was killed in the crash.

“The gasoline truck, heading north on State, was carrying two tanks, one in front of the other. As it made the turn, the streetcar hit the truck’s rear tank, and the flagman said he heard a ‘poof’ as the gasoline–4,000 gallons of it–spewed out of that tank and ignited. Rushing to the rear of the streetcar, he helped passengers out until the flames drove him away.

“The front tank, fortunately, did not catch fire. But the flames spread and destroyed five nearby buildings and several parked cars.

“The conductor of the streetcar later said the first thing he knew of the accident was when he found himself on the floor. ‘There were flames in front of the car, and people were rushing to the rear,’ the conductor said. ‘I set the rear doors to open so that people could get out, but they piled up there. I pleaded with them to stand back. Then I was sped along with the crowd. They were panicked. I just couldn’t open the door. I was carried out through the rear window. I don’t know how it was opened.’

“Bodies of victims were later found stacked three and four deep behind the rear doors. In one of the many investigations into the crash, jurors were shown how the doors of Green Hornet streetcars would not open from either the inside or the outside when even one person was applying pressure on them….

“Five years later the Chicago Transit Authority said it had paid out almost $900,000 to victims of the crash.

“The investigations that followed the tragedy resulted in numerous recommendations, among them: that gasoline trucks make their deliveries only at night, that transit vehicles employ safety devices to keep doors open in emergencies, that larger signs and flares be used when rail switches are kept open, that the speed of transit vehicles be regulated by law, that motormen undergo physical examinations every six months, that underpasses that regularly flooded with rain water and thus blocked Chicago traffic be furnished with effective drainage systems.” (Hughes, Bob. “Flaming Death in the Green Hornet Crash of May, 1950.” Chicago Tribune, 6-9-1985.)

O’Keefe: “On the evening of May 25, 1950 Green Hornet number 7078 was assigned to the 36 Broadway-State route… there had been a heavy rain storm [the night before] and a viaduct became flooded at 63rd and State Street. Because streetcars have electric motors that are only inches above the tracks, they cannot ford deep flood waters. The motorman of a preceding streetcar… was directed not to go under the flooded viaduct and to turn back north at a short-turn loop which was located just north of 63rd Street. At the short turn loop, there was a switch track that curved east from the south-bound track and crossed the northbound track to get to the loop track. After the preceding Green Hornet passed through the switch it was left open. No one knows for sure, but the motorman of 7078 [Paul J. Manning] seemed to be unaware of the flooding situation ahead. Car 7078 was approaching the viaduct and the open switch track at a high rate of speed. It went through the open switch, and veered into the northbound lane of traffic, hitting a gasoline tank truck that had just passed under the flooded viaduct.” (O’Keefe, The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster)

Taylor: “In the opposite lane, heading north, a semi-trailer truck that was driven by Mel Wilson was also quickly approaching the viaduct. The semi-truck happened to be hauling 8,000 gallons of gasoline that was destined for south side filling stations. How Manning failed to see the flagman’s signal is unknown, but we do know that he was unaware of the closed underpass and also unaware of the open switch that was being used to bypass the trolleys…. when the trolley hit the open switch track, it violently swung to the left, throwing the passengers aboard to the floor. Manning was last seen throwing up his hands and screaming in terror as the streetcar hurled through the intersection and rammed into the tanker truck. The impact ripped open the tanker’s steel skin, creating a shower of sparks that immediately ignited the gasoline that was now flooding onto the street. The two vehicles erupted into a single fireball and incinerated the trolley….

“At the time of the accident, every seat on the Green Hornet had been filled. The aisles had been filled with the people who had been jolted by the sudden turn and they suddenly felt the tremendous heat as the fire swept through the car. In the terror and confusion that followed, the trapped and charred victims pushed against the side doors, but they refused to open. The windows were covered with steel bars, making them useless as an escape route.^[1] Somehow, 30 people managed to crawl away from the scene, leaving 33 others behind to die. Those fortunate few who survived were all treated for severe burns at Provident Hospital.” (Taylor 2003)

Taylor and Cowan: “More than 30 fire companies were called to the scene and it took more than two hours to get the worst of the fire under control.” (Taylor 2003; Cowan 2001, 73)

“A number of the passengers escaped the trolley thanks to a 14 year-old girl who had thought quickly enough to pull down a red safety knob that opened the center doors.^[2] However, the rear doors had no such device and were in fact designed to be entry doors only, not opening from the inside. This created a bottleneck when the panicked passengers tried to get out of them. When the firefighters had opened the doors, they found a mass of bodies that had been literally fused together by the heat.” (Taylor 2003; Cowan 2001 73)

“In the investigation that followed, it was found that the Green Hornet had been in perfect working order, as had the gasoline truck. Mel Wilson, the driver of the truck, had also been burned to death in the accident. Most pointed fingers of blame at Paul Manning, who had been involved in 10 minor accidents during his career, but the real problems were the design flaws in the trolley itself. These included the lack of safety pulls (now standard equipment on buses and elevated lines), the steel bars that blocked an emergency escape through the windows and doors that would not open from either side.” (Taylor 2003; Cowan 2001, 73)

Trowbridge: “It started with afternoon thunderstorms, a flooded viaduct and a streetcar turnaround near 63rd and State streets. It ended with a speeding trolley car, a massive fireball and 34 deaths in what remains one of the worst traffic accidents in Chicago history. What happened near the end of rush hour Thursday, May 25, 1950, haunted the Park Manor area on the South Side for years. For some Chicagoans, it still does.

“At about 6:30 p.m., a streamlined trolley — Green Hornet No. 7078 — rumbled south down State toward 63rd. It was being rerouted east into a turnaround to avoid a flooded underpass. Switches were set open for the green-and-cream trolley to make the turn. By most accounts, it was going too fast for the wet conditions. A flagman at the intersection tried to warn the trolley about the detour, he told the Tribune. “I started waving when the car was about a block away, but it kept coming. Then I really began waving. I jumped back.”

“The trolley’s motorman, who had been in 10 minor accidents in 16 months, apparently did not see the flagman. As the streetcar clanged closer to the intersection, it hit the open switch, jumped the rails and swung to the left, where it struck a northbound truck carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline in two tanks. The gray tank at the rear of the truck ripped open, a shower of sparks cascading through the air. A river of gasoline gushed to the pavement, enveloping the truck and streetcar. An explosion startled residents.

“Dazed commuters screamed as they scrambled to their feet. The trolley came to a stop sideways, its steel shell burning. The truck, one tank in flames, the other intact, was pinned near the sidewalk. “There were flames in front of the car, and people were rushing to the rear,” the trolley’s conductor would later say. “I set the rear doors to open so that people could get out, but they piled up there. I pleaded for them to stand back. Then I was sped along with the crowd. They were panicked. I just couldn’t open the door. I was carried out through the rear window. I don’t know how it opened.”

“A State Street resident told the Tribune he “saw an enormous rush of flames which seemed to engulf the streetcar and heard a series of three or four explosions. … I saw people pushing their way out of the rear windows, some with their clothing afire and some with arms and legs cut by glass.”

“A 14-year-old girl inside the trolley reportedly yanked an emergency cord, breaking a finger, and slipped through a two-panel side door. She may have been the first one off the trolley. Some passengers pried metal bars from windows and crawled out through broken glass. Others weren’t so lucky.

“Sheets of fire engulfed several autos and eight buildings. A few motorists and residents were able to pull bleeding and burning commuters out of the trolley. Other residents called police.

“Flames shot 200 to 300 feet into the air, the intense heat melting overhead trolley wires. Bricks and concrete on the street cracked. The heat blistered billboards 75 feet away.

“It would take an hour for the gasoline to burn out and even longer for the surrounding building fires to be extinguished.

“As word spread, relatives, friends and onlookers flocked to the scene. At one point, police estimated the crowd at 15,000. Mayor Martin Kennelly, top city officials and representatives from the state’s attorney’s office appeared.

Priests administered last rites.

“Hospitals started receiving the injured. In all, 34 people were dead, including the motorman and truck driver, and 50 people from the trolley and nearby were injured. The fire destroyed five buildings.

“The grim task of identifying bodies lay ahead. There wasn’t much to go on: burned clothes, melted shoes, a fire-blackened watch, a ring, bits of toys, remnants of a letter from a young woman planning her wedding.

“Crash investigations later revealed the trolley doors would not open when pressure was applied from the inside or outside. Other investigations recommended that gasoline trucks make deliveries only at night; that transit vehicles employ safety devices to keep doors open in an emergency; that metal bars on trolley windows be replaced with removable devices; that the speed of streetcars and buses be regulated by law; that larger signs and flares be used when rail switches are kept open, and that flooded underpasses be furnished with effective drainage systems.

“The Green Hornets stopped rolling in 1958. It was the end of the line for Chicago’s colorful streetcar era — from the first horse-drawn Bobtail in 1859 to the two-horse cars in 1870, a short-lived steam engine line, cable cars, electrical streetcars, the red cars, the “blue goose” and, finally, the Green Hornets.

“Today, there’s little to remind visitors of the tragic events that unfolded near the intersection: a vacant lot, railroad cars, billboards, the viaduct — and a CTA stop. It’s for bus route No. 29.

“Jim Sullivan was 12 and living in Beverly when the accident happened. “It was a terrible tragedy,” said Sullivan, now 74, a Montgomery Ward retiree who now lives in Glenview. “I remember feeling how absolutely hopeless it was (for rescuers) to get to those people.”” (Trowbridge, Tony. “Streetcar fire among the worst traffic accidents in city’s history.” Chicago Tribune, 6-24-2012.)

Contemporary Newspapers:

May 26: “Chicago, May 26 – (UP) — Search crews found evidence today that a baby died with 33 other persons in an explosion and fire that blasted a south side neighborhood when a trolley plowed into a gasoline tank truck last night. Fifty persons were injured in the disaster.

“Police and firemen dug through the ruins of seven buildings ignited by the searing flames that trapped passengers aboard the crowded streetcar.

“Patrolman Van Clay found a baby’s foot lying in the street near the crash scene. It was sent to the police laboratory.

“Officials believed the baby’s body may have been consumed in the fire that left four of the seven buildings with all interior walls and flooring burned out.

“Deputy Chief of Police Philip Breitzke said there was a possibility, however, that the baby’s body was one of the charred pieces in the Cook county morgue.

“The search crews proceeded gingerly for fear that the water-soaked walls still standing might collapse. They believed, however, that the bodies of all victims had been found.

“Meanwhile, officials organized a sweeping inquiry to determine whether criminal negligence was involved in the disaster. Coroner A. L. Brodie said he would impanel a jury of experts June 1 to investigate. He was expected to coordinate inquiries by the fire department, police, state fire marshal, the Interstate Commerce Commission and the State Commerce Commission. Private investigations were expected by various insurance companies and by petroleum associations interested in the shipment of gasoline and other inflammables….

“The tragedy struck the south side at the dinner hour last night. “It was terrible,” said one eyewitness. “I could look into the window of the street car and see those people roasting to death in a tangled mass as they fought to get out the doors. Only a few escaped through windows. Their clothes were on fire. They looked like little flaming dolls.”

“The city’s “Disaster Plan 5” was put into effect minutes after the blast. It is the same plan that will be used if an atomic bomb ever hits here. One thousand police and all available fire equipment responded.

“The street car motorman, Paul Manning, 42, died at his controls. The truck driver, Mel Wilson, 39, of Valparaiso, Ind., burned to death in the cab of the truck which was owned by the Sprout and Davis Trucking Co., of Whiting, Ind.

“As the trolley smashed into the tanker, “balls of fire” ignited buildings nearby. Firemen were forced to fight the flames in the structures at the same time they tried to save the passengers caught in the street car.

Tear Buildings Apart

“At dawn today, heavy wrecking equipment began tearing the buildings apart brick-by-brick as searchers sought the bodies of persons who may have been trapped in them.

“Officials said gasoline which did not explode or burn had poured into the sewer system under a two- block area surrounding the crash scene at 62nd and State streets. Firemen and police warned spectators to stay out of the area as they began pumping tons of water down manholes to flush the sewers clear. They said a cigarette or other flame dropped into a sewer might set off explosions that would blow sewer covers and pavement from the ground.

“Twenty-eight burned and injured persons lay in hospitals and doctors said 10 were near death.

“The tragedy occurred in a predominantly Negro district at 6:36 o’clock last night as streets were crowded with workers homeward bound. The southbound street car, a high-speed streamlined vehicle, suddenly began switching into a turnaround at a point where a flash cloudburst had flooded a viaduct underpass. As it swerved, the car ploughed directly into the truck, consisting of a tractor, a semi-trailer, and a four-wheeled trailer. An instant later the truck’s load of gasoline exploded. Flames shot through the area, rolling through the street car and along the pavement in ‘big balls of fire.’

“The trolley’s 50 or more passengers were trapped. They fought and clawed each other in an attempt to reach the narrow inward-folding doors. They piled up in the exitways in a jammed mass of humanity six feet high. Bars placed over the lower half of side windows prevented them from using those routes of escape. Only a few managed to smash their way through small windows at the rear. One of those who escaped was the street car conductor, William Liddell, 29, who was only slightly injured. Officials of the Chicago Transit authority allowed him to make only a brief statement to newsmen and then spirited him away.

“The Chicago Sun-Times quoted a CTA spokesman as saying it appeared that Motorman Manning was going ‘too fast’ and ignored a flagman’s signal to slow down just before the street car moved into the switch to make the turn-around.

“Flames from the exploding gasoline burned many pedestrians walking along the street. The heat was so intense that windows cracked in buildings a block away.” (Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Passengers on Trolley Trapped in Truck Crash.” 5-26-1950, p. 1.)

May 26: “Chicago, May 26. – (UP) – A long line of people filed past a little desk in the Cook county morgue today and there was pain and fear on every face. As each person came to the desk they told the attendant of the dread, real or imagined, that had brought them there. The words were nearly all alike. “I’m worried about my husband.. . . He always comes home on that street car and I haven’t seen him.” one woman whispered. Another woman, a handkerchief clenched in her hand, spoke dazedly about her daughter “. . . .missing from home . . . I don’t know where she could be.” Each person was taken into an adjoining room and prepared for the ordeal awaiting him. Then he was led down a flight of stairs to a room where the morgue stores bodies. The crash victims were not placed in sliding cabinets as is routine, but laid out in a long line. The odor of burnt flesh, easily noticeable upstairs, was overpowering in the basement. Helped by police and attendants, they paced slowly by the bodies, stopping now and then to touch a charred piece of cloth or to bend over a blackened bit of jewelry.

“There were few identifications for the flames had not only burned most of the victims beyond any possible recognition but destroyed the few personal belongings that might have helped. But there were exceptions. Occasionally a low gasp or a burst of hysterical sobbing indicated that one of the sad procession had found what he or she most feared. One woman, with nothing but a

premonition that her mother was among the victims, came to the morgue and fainted before she was even led downstairs. Revived and taken to see the bodies, she found her fears and her premonition justified — her mother was there. A young boy blanched when he saw a familiar silver ring on one blackened corpse. He rushed blindly from the room.

“A barrel of shoes, clothing, and personal belongings stood in the corner of the room. Some of the items were crisp and charred but others were blood-soaked and apparently untouched by the flames.” (Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Explosion, Fire Costs 33 Lives.” 5-26-1950, p. 1.)

May 27: “Chicago, May 27, (AP) – A half dozen separate investigations were being made today in connection with the streetcar-gasoline truck crash in which 32 persons were killed Thursday. Some of the points the investigators are attempting to clear appeared to be the rate of speed the crowded trolley was moving and the discrepancy in passengers’ accounts on the operation of the car’s rear doors.

“Thirty-one of the estimated 48 persons in the trolley – including the motorman — perished minutes after the car crashed into the big gasoline truck. The driver of the double trailer truck, which contained some 8000 gallons of gasoline, also was killed. Thirty others were hurt.

“The spreading flames touched off fire near the accident scene at Sixty-second and State streets, on the city’s South Side. Five two-story buildings and several automobiles were destroyed.

“The death toll of 32, the National Safety Council said, was the largest to result from a motor vehicle collision in the nation. It had teen 33, but coroner officials revised it last night after a complete examination of the charred bodies. Thirty of he dead had been identified. They included 15 Negroes. All were from Chicago.

“Police, who started their investigation of the accident immediately after the crash, arrested the trolley conductor yesterday on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident. The conductor, William C. Liddell, 28, a Negro, who escaped the fiery car with several passengers, was released on $100 bond posted by the Chicago Transit Authority, which operates the city’s streetcar and elevated lines. Liddell, who disappeared after the crash, testified at a hearing held by the CTA yesterday. He said his attempts to open the rear doors of the flaming car were blocked by the panic-stricken riders trying to smash down the doors.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “6 Probes Started in Trolley Fire.” 5-27-1950, p. 1.)

Sources

Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “6 Probes Started in Trolley Fire.” 5-27-1950, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=117702370&sterm=trolley+truck+chicago

Cowan, David. Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City. Lake Claremont Press, 2001, 169 pages. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZHPg3siVm4EC&dq=1910+Meat+packing+plant+fire+Chicago,+IL&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=

Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Explosion, Fire Costs 33 Lives.” 5-26-1950, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=8118684&sterm=trolley+truck+chicago

Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL. “Passengers on Trolley Trapped in Truck Crash.” 5-26-1950, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=8118684&sterm=trolley+truck+chicago

Hanzell, Wesley. “Loop Tragedy Was Second Major Crash In 13 Months,” Chicago Tribune, February 5, 1977. Accessed at: http://www.chicago-l.org/articles/1977crash2.html

Hughes, Bob. “Flaming Death in the Green Hornet Crash of May, 1950.” Chicago Tribune, 6-9-1985. Accessed 5-24-2013 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-06-09/features/8502060320_1_streetcar-green-hornet-rear

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

National Safety Council. “Greatest Number of Deaths in a Single Motor-Vehicle Accident.” Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.

O’Keefe, Phil. “The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster – Chicago, May 25, 1950.” Accessed 12-26-2008 at: http://users.ameritech.net/sigridaok/grnhrnt.htm

Taylor, Troy. “The Trolley of Death – The Green Hornet Trolley Disaster,” 2003. Accessed 12/26/2008 at: http://www.prairieghosts.com/green_hornet.html

Trowbridge, Tony. “Streetcar fire among the worst traffic accidents in city’s history.” Chicago Tribune, 6-24-2012. Accessed 5-24-2013 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-24/site/ct-per-flash-greenhornet-0624-20120624_1_trolley-car-accidents-flames

[1] “The passenger windows were raised with crank handles like those in automobiles. Although the windows could be opened far enough for a slender passenger to crawl through, steel bars were attached in the opening to prevent passengers from sticking their arms and heads out.” (Phil O’Keefe, “The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster.”)

[2] Additionally, “The conductor, who sat in the rear of the car, was apparently able to jump out of the rear window after impact. He ran from the site and went into hiding for several days.” (O’Keefe, The Green Hornet…Disaster)

1950 — May 25, Trolley & Gasoline Tank Truck collide/explosion & fire, Chicago, IL– 34