"On the 25th of May, 1950, at around 6:30pm, a crowded tram was making its way through the streets of Chicago..."
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LearningTranscript
00:00On the 25th of May, 1950, at around 6 30 p.m. a crowded tram was making its way
00:18through the streets of Chicago. As it approached a switch in the track the
00:23driver missed the frantic signals of a worker on the street and plowed through
00:27the track switch at high speed. Immediately the tram collided with a
00:32fully loaded tanker truck hauling gasoline. Fuel spilled out and ignited
00:38in a giant fireball, beginning one of the most deadly public transit disasters in
00:44Chicago's history. In 1950 streetcars were a common sight in Chicago. The city
00:53had just purchased hundreds of new electric trams which, due to their
00:57distinctive green and cream coloring, came to be known as Green Hornets. These
01:03vehicles could seat around 57 passengers apiece, with room for more standing. Each
01:11Green Hornet was staffed by two Chicago Transit Authority workers. A driver would
01:17pilot the vehicle while a conductor would sit at the rear doors to take
01:21tickets and answer passenger queries. To ride you'd board through a wide door at
01:28the back of the vehicle, take a seat, and then disboard through two narrower doors
01:33further up the car when your destination was reached. Although, like every other
01:39tram or streetcar, the Green Hornets ran on rails their routes weren't always
01:44fixed. Streetcars could be moved between different tracks using switches and
01:50around using loops situated all over the network. Often streetcars would be
01:56required to use alternate routes, for example when there were roadworks or a
02:01broken-down vehicle blocking the way. On the 25th of May 1950 flooding was the
02:08issue. An underpass near the intersection of State and 63rd streets had become
02:14flooded. Because the motor of most streetcars on the network was situated
02:19very low in the chassis even a relatively small amount of standing
02:24water was a problem. City workers were called out to unblock drains and clear
02:29the flood, work that would take several hours. In the meantime all streetcars
02:35would have to be diverted. Chicago Transit Authority employee Charles Clime
02:41was sent to assist with this task. His job would be to stand beside the switch
02:47and signal to approaching streetcars to slow down. He would then be required to
02:52operate the switch and send them into the loop so that they could turn around.
02:57Clime did his job diligently, waving down and turning around streetcars as they
03:02arrived. The hours dragged on so that he had turned around almost 200 streetcars
03:08by the time he got word that the flood was soon to be cleared. Another 15
03:13minutes and things would be back to normal.
03:16No doubt relieved, Clime returned to his post, ready to turn around the last few
03:22streetcars of the day. At around 6.30 p.m. a trolley approached. Clime waved for it
03:30to slow down, but it did not. Surprised, Clime moved forward and waved again more
03:36urgently... but the streetcar still didn't slow down, despite Clime's now frantic
03:42gestures. It carried on at full speed straight past him. Things happened
03:49quickly after that. The streetcar plowed into the turnaround loop at full speed. A
03:55distinct buzzing sound reported by survivors indicated that the driver
03:59applied the emergency brake at this point, evidently realizing his mistake. But
04:05it was too late. The streetcar slammed into a gasoline tanker that had just
04:10emerged from the flooded underpass. A massive explosion took place, with a
04:15fireball blasting in through the front window of the streetcar. Fuel gushed from
04:21the ruptured tanker, forming a pool around the wreck and quickly igniting.
04:25Within seconds the whole scene was ablaze. On board the Green Hornet panic
04:32took hold as passengers surged towards the back of the car in order to escape
04:37the flames. At this point the actions of a 14-year-old girl were instrumental in
04:43saving several lives. Beverly Clark was riding the streetcar alone, heading for
04:49the cinema to catch a movie. Immediately following the collision she was thrown
04:54to the floor and then trampled by her fellow passengers as they escaped
04:58towards the rear of the streetcar. Somehow she managed to get to her feet
05:03and reach the center door, only to find it firmly sealed. Her efforts to force it
05:10open were hopeless, but after a moment she remembered that there was an
05:14emergency door release. Beverly knew how to find and operate the emergency release
05:19only because she had pulled it on several previous occasions as part of
05:24childhood pranks with her friends. These practice runs almost certainly saved her
05:30life. Reaching up Beverly operated the release and the doors sprung open. She
05:37spilled out into the street and was followed by several incredibly lucky
05:41passengers before the spreading flames blocked the center doors once more.
05:47Meanwhile at the rear of the car a pileup was taking place. The doors there
05:53opened inwards, and so no amount of pushing and kicking by frantic passengers
05:58inside the car would make them open. The conductor, a man named William Liddle, had
06:04been seated beside the doors when the collision took place. The impact had
06:09thrown him to the floor, where he was then trampled by other passengers. By the
06:14time he regained his footing passengers were already congregating by the rear
06:19doors, attempting to force them open. Liddle shouted for the crowd to stand
06:25back and let the doors open. At the same time he reached for the levers to
06:30release the doors. He knew full well that they would not open if people were
06:35applying pressure from the inside, and he wasn't sure if his cries to stand clear
06:40of the doors were being heeded. The interior of the car was now full of smoke,
06:44confusion, and noise. Nonetheless he pulled the levers and the doors
06:49miraculously sprang open. Liddle and a small number of other passengers were
06:55able to escape. However, the crush around the doors was so intense that it soon
07:01forced them closed again. The remaining passengers were left with few other
07:06options. They had only seconds left to escape. Using whatever came to hand
07:12several broke windows and attempted to squeeze through them. They were largely
07:18thwarted by metal bars which had been installed across the windows. Ironically
07:24these were safety bars designed to stop passengers leaning or reaching out of
07:30windows. Nonetheless a small number of people were also able to escape this way.
07:36One passenger, 18-year-old Arlene Franzen, recalled squeezing out through a
07:43painfully narrow gap and escaping onto a nearby green. When she turned around she
07:48saw a co-worker of hers, who happened to have been on the streetcar too, attempting
07:54to escape through the same window. As Arlene watched her co-worker was
07:59overwhelmed by the flames and collapsed back into the car. Passers-by rushed to
08:06help those few who could escape, but most rescuers were soon beaten back by
08:11the spreading flames. By the time firemen and other emergency personnel arrived on
08:17scene there was nobody left alive on board the streetcar to save. The flames
08:22were so immense that the first firefighters on scene couldn't even
08:27determine that there was a streetcar in the midst of them. All in all 34 people
08:34killed in the crash and subsequent fire, the driver of the streetcar included. 50
08:41people also sustained serious injuries. Before it could be extinguished the fire
08:46spread to several nearby buildings, burning them irreparably and making more
08:52than 100 people homeless. It was the most deadly and damaging
08:57collision ever to have taken place involving just two vehicles.
09:04An investigation was launched into the disaster, and several key factors were
09:09identified. The performance of Charles Clime, the flagman who had been
09:14responsible for signaling to approaching streetcars to slow down at the
09:17turnaround loop, was called into question. It emerged that he had not been wearing
09:22all of his uniform and had not carried the flags and signal flares usually used
09:27for this task. He had also engaged in a forbidden but tolerated practice known
09:33as plugging the switch... essentially jamming the switch so that it was
09:38constantly open rather than opening it and closing it for every streetcar that
09:43passed. Clime's actions were, however, just one aspect of the disaster. The design of
09:51the Green Hornet also came in for some criticism. The doors that would only open
09:56inwards, the bars across the windows, the fact that there were exit doors on only
10:02one side, and the lack of easily accessible emergency door releases had
10:07all made escape from the burning streetcar next to impossible for the
10:11victims of the accident. Additionally it was discovered that streetcars weren't
10:16routinely subject to the same speed limits as other road users, and that the
10:21driver of the fateful trolley had been involved in ten minor accidents during
10:25his career but had never had his fitness to drive questioned or checked.
10:31Finally the rules concerning the haulage of gas through the city of Chicago were
10:36examined. Other cities made deliveries at night or enforced a mandatory maximum on
10:42the amount of gasoline that could be hauled along certain routes. Chicago had
10:47few rules of this type. Following the recommendations of the inquest some
10:53changes were made. Speed limits for streetcars were enforced, and easily
10:59accessible emergency door releases were installed on all exits to all streetcars.
11:05Bars were removed from some windows, and removable window frames were added to
11:10others. It was recommended that flagmen be given new, highly visible uniforms, and
11:17that drivers be required to pass a routine medical exam to ensure that they
11:22were fit and well. These changes were just some of those recommended by the
11:28inquest. More might have been done, but for the fact that the era of streetcars
11:33was coming to an end. In the years following the accident Green Hornets
11:38began to disappear from the streets of Chicago, replaced by cheaper and more
11:43efficient motor buses. By 1955 almost the entire fleet had been decommissioned.
11:51With the disappearance of the Green Hornets the horror of the accident faded
11:56from the minds of the public. Today the Green Hornet streetcar crash is a barely
12:01remembered part of Chicago's long history. The intersection where the
12:06collision took place is unmarked and unremarkable. Thousands pass through this
12:12junction every day inside safe, modern motor vehicles, unaware entirely that
12:19they are passing the site of the worst public transit disaster in Chicago
12:23history.
12:49you