Revisiting 1973 train derailment in Fairfield

Forty-five years ago this month, a train derailed on the Rock Island Line in Fairfield.

No injuries were reported in the derailment that occurred Aug. 8, 1973, on a portion of the track that has since been removed on West Washington Avenue between Sixth and Ninth streets.

The engine tipped over near the Louden Building, and train cars fell off the tracks at the underpass where the railroad met Burlington Avenue/Highway 34.

Fairfield resident Mort Gaines recalls that the Highway 34 underpass between Sixth and Ninth streets had caused problems for semis in the early 1970s. On several occasions, tall trucks could not fit under the underpass, and their tires had to be deflated so they were short enough to fit. A batch of new cars was scratched up from going under the bridge on a semi.

The short underpass prompted lawsuits, and by the summer of 1973, work had begun to dig a deeper underpass at that crossing. This forced traffic to take a detour from Burlington Avenue onto Washington Avenue. The heavy traffic on Washington was enough to separate the tracks from the railroad ties and cause the derailment.

The Rock Island Railroad Line went bankrupt a few years later, and the underpass at West Burlington Avenue was removed in 1984. The low road was filled in with dirt from Sixth to Ninth streets and rebuilt into four lanes.