(The following story by Maggie Borman appeared on The Alton Telegraph website on April 27.)
CARLINVILLE, Ill. — Passengers aboard an Amtrak train that slammed into a grain truck Monday afternoon north of Carlinville described the scene as something of a miracle.
“Quite frankly, (we) were kind of amazed no one was killed,” Chris Unthank of Alton said Monday night.
According to the Macoupin County Sheriff Department, which is investigating the accident, the collision occurred at 12:55 p.m. on Schale Road in Carlinville Township, approximately one mile east of Illinois Route 4.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeff Rhodes said a complete report would not be available until today. Rhodes said minor injuries were reported but the names of the injured were not yet available. He also could not release details on the train crew or semi-driver. The semi was said to have been hauling grain, which was spilled in the collision.
Unthank, who works for Lewis and Clark Community College’s radio station, WLCA, said he was returning from Chicago where he had covered several concerts over the weekend. A seasoned Amtrak passenger, he was sitting in the business section of the train, closer to the engine than normal, and not far from the stop at the Carlinville station.
“In fact, the conductor said we were just about four or five minutes out of Carlinville when we felt a jolt,” he said. “The next few seconds seemed surreal. It’s pretty hard to miss the bottom half of a tractor-trailer flying by the window and corn flying by; then what looked like red corn, I guess from the diesel fuel.
“It was all like something out of the movie, ‘Twister,’ as the trailer part of the semi was bent over in the middle.”
Unthank said he wasn’t sure how many passengers were still on the train, but had heard the conductor say that 300 had been scheduled for passage.
He said he was thrown forward when the train and semi collided, and all he wanted to do was get off the train — as did other passengers. Amtrak officials, however, told them it was policy for all passengers to remain aboard.
“They said if we left the train we would be arrested, but I have a friend who lives in Carlinville, and all I wanted to do was get off the train and head for his place,” Unthank said.
Passengers sat for an hour and a half as law enforcement agencies arrived and took stock. He said he saw no ambulances, just sheriff deputies, and that Amtrak officials continued to reassure passengers that no one had been seriously hurt or killed. Amtrak continued the cafe service aboard the train, but stopped serving alcohol.
“Even the sheriff deputies had a look on their face like they couldn’t believe no one had been killed,” Unthank said. “Personally, I could have used a stiff drink.”
Once the train pulled into the Carlinville station, passengers were allowed to disembark, but told not to take photos.
“I am a bit sore in my neck and back from being shook up a little, but I am just glad no one died, he said. “I just kept thinking to myself that I was glad I was on Amtrak and had a mass transit wreck and not on an airplane.
Unthank rode the train back to Alton, and he said that leg of the trip seemed slower than normal.