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Today in Chicago History: Motorman ignores red light causing head-on train collision that kills 7 near Gary

Victims are removed down a slope using a safety rope after two commuter trains collided Jan. 18, 1993. Seven people were killed in the crash near Gary. (John Smiercak/Chicago Tribune)
Victims are removed down a slope using a safety rope after two commuter trains collided Jan. 18, 1993. Seven people were killed in the crash near Gary. (John Smiercak/Chicago Tribune)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 18, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Front page flashback: Jan. 19, 1993

Two Chicago, South Shore & South Bend trains sideswiped each other peeling away the metal sheaths of the lead cars, leaving the trains mangled, and killing seven passengers and injuring more than 60 on Jan. 18, 1993. It was the worst train accident in 15 years in a spot in northwestern Indiana called the gantlet. (Chicago Tribune)
Two Chicago South Shore and South Bend trains sideswiped each other, peeling away the metal sheaths of the lead cars, killing seven passengers and injuring more than 60 on Jan. 18, 1993. (Chicago Tribune)

1993: A Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad commuter train raced by a red signal and crashed head-on into another train crossing a single-track gantlet bridge in Gary, killing seven.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the 69-year-old motorman who blew the signal was to blame, but suggested the railroad install a signal system that would automatically stop trains if a motorman fails to heed a red light.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 61 degrees (1996)
  • Low temperature: Minus 21 degrees (1994)
  • Precipitation: 1.51 inches (1876)
  • Snowfall: 5.3 inches (1943)
The University of Chicago traveled to Iowa City to play the University of Iowa on Jan. 18, 1896, in the first five-on-five college basketball game. (Chicago Tribune)
The University of Chicago traveled to Iowa City to play the University of Iowa on Jan. 18, 1896, in the first five-on-five college basketball game. (Chicago Tribune)

1896: The first game of five-on-five college basketball was played between the University of Iowa and University of Chicago at Iowa City Armory in Iowa City, Iowa.

The U. of C. won 15-12.

The Chicago Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971 — but they have flirted with leaving the downtown stadium several times since

1991: Illinois Gov. James Thompson and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered plans to begin to incorporate a domed stadium nicknamed “McDome” — with the Chicago Bears as anchor tenants — as part of a major expansion of McCormick Place.

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