The Northbrook Fire Department received calls for a train derailment at the bridge over Shermer Road just south of Willow Road around 1:30PM on Wednesday. First arriving units were Glenview Engine 8 and Northbrook Tower 12, and they found a brush fire along the road. Multiple coal cars derailed and spilled coal from the overpass to the street below. The bridge, which was rebuilt in November of 2009 after the last derailment at that site, was destroyed.
There were no injuries and officials believe that there were no cars under the bridge at the time of the accident.
A Box Alarm was struck for manpower due to the excessive heat, but the companies were released without going to work.
Tim Olk made it to the scene before the fire was out and will submit images later.
Larry Shapiro arrived later and submitted several images of the scene from both sides of the bridge.
Northbrook Tower 12 is extended to offer a position to view the overall scene and damage. Larry Shapiro photo
With the bulk of the devastation as a back drop, a firefighter uses a hand line to douse the area that had been burning. Larry Shapiro photo
Looking south on Shermer Road, what was once an overpass is now a pile of coal and rail cars. Larry Shapiro photo
Glenview Engine 8 was the first engine on the scene. Larry Shapiro photo
Looking south on Shermer Road, what was once an overpass is now a pile of coal and rail cars. Larry Shapiro photo
Looking north on Shermer from the opposite side of the bridge. Larry Shapiro photo
Damage to the track is visible along with derailed cars. Larry Shapiro photo
This bridge had been rebuilt in November of 2009 following a previous derail train. Larry Shapiro photo
Another view looking northwest from the south side of the bridge. Larry Shapiro photo
A panoramic view of the scene from south. Larry Shapiro photo
A gallery with more images from this incident can be found HERE.
The previous derailment from November 2, 2009 can be seen HERE, and reports HERE and HERE.
A view of the incident in 2009.
An aerial panoramic of the derailment scene on November 2, 2009. Larry Shapiro photo
This was also the site of a similar derailment 38 years ago.
A derailed train at the same bridge 38 years ago. Larry Shapiro photo
another view of the scene 38 years ago. Larry Shapiro photo
