My
name is Chuck Spinner. After five years of
research and writing, my book, The
Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing
is at press at this moment. It is the story
of the Naperville, Illinois train wreck of
1946 (see both a brief and a more lengthy
synopsis below). I am planning a book
signing tour of the Midwest towns where
families of the 45 victims lived. Some very
key people involved in the accident were
from Galesburg. And some of the people who
are receiving this email were very
instrumental in helping with my research.
I
would like to come to Galesburg to have a
book signing, hopefully at your Historical
Society or at the local library (or at
another location of your choosing). I would
not charge a fee for my talk..my only
prerequisite would be to be housed at the
local Fairfield Inn (I am staying at
Fairfield Inns all along my tour) at 901 W.
Carl Sandburg Drive in Galesburg. I would be
in the Galesburg area at the beginning of
June and could stop in Galesburg for a
presentation and book signing either on the
afternoon of June 4th or the late morning or
early afternoon on June 5th.
My
book tour is only a month away and I would
like to tie up some of these commitments as
soon as possible. Hopefully something could
be set up rather quickly. My wife and I are
very excited to meet the people in this
railroad town. I know my book would be of
interest to many people in your area and I
would love to afford them the opportunity to
share the results of my research. I would
love to include Galesburg in our book tour
itinerary!
I will
be having a book signing in Naperville at
2pm on June 2nd and I will be
speaking at the Great Midwest Train Show in
Wheaton on June 3rd(time yet to
be determined).
My
wife and I will be anxiously awaiting your
reply. I have sent this request to a number
of organizations with interest in the
history of Galesburg. I'm hoping that
someone will please pick up the ball and run
with it on this matter!
Chuck
Spinner (see contact info in press release
below)
*****
Press
Release for:
The
Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing
( published by AuthorHouse in Spring of 2012)
On April 25th, 1946 there
was a train collision in Naperville, Illinois
in which forty-five passengers were killed.
Never heard about it? Neither have most of the
current residents of Naperville! Why? World
War II had just ended and, just as many of the
returning soldiers didn't like to focus on the
horrors of war, few eye witnesses to the train
crash were ever at ease reminiscing about the
gruesome sights they saw that day. Also, none
of the victims of the wreck were from
Naperville. Had forty-five Naperville
residents lost their lives in the crash, there
would have been a number of commemorative
books written and certainly a marker at the
site. Neither of these two types of memorials
exist today.
On that tragic day, two
Burlington trains, the Advance Flyer and the
Exposition Flyer, left Chicago's Union Station
at 12:35pm on adjoining tracks. Four miles
from the station, the Exposition Flyer merged
onto the same track behind the Advance Flyer.
The Advance Flyer, train #11, was traveling to
Burlington, Iowa and then to Lincoln and
Omaha, Nebraska. The Exposition Flyer, train
#39, was following two to three minutes behind
the Advance Flyer, and both trains were
traveling at speeds of 80-85 miles an hour.
Train #39 was so named because its destination
was Oakland, California, where passengers were
traveling to participate in the 1939
Exposition commemorating the completion of the
Golden Gate Bridge. The two trains, traveling
at speeds of eighty to eighty-five miles an
hour, separated by just two to three minutes
created a picture of an accident waiting to
happen. When the first train stopped
unexpectedly around the Naperville bend, for a
supposed mechanical problem, the second train
could not stop in time and telescoped into the
Advance Flyer.
For sixty six years, the
worst tragedy in Burlington Railroad history
remained relatively untouched by researchers.
Nothing about the lives of the forty-five
people who lost their lives was collectively,
publicly known – until now! Spinner's book,
The Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing is
being published by AuthorHouse 66 years after
the original tragedy. Chuck has spent over
five years learning about the life histories
of these forty-five victims and why they were
on the train that day. In fascinating style,
Spinner details which passengers' lives were
doomed due to a variety of unfortunate, often
freakish circumstances.
Early reviewers are unanimously amazed at the
painstaking research exhibited in the book.
Spinner has sought research help from rail
buffs, librarians, and museum and newspaper
archivists. He has interviewed friends and
family members of some of the victims as well
as several of the passengers who were injured
yet survived. He has also talked with rescue
workers and spectators who were at the site
and two surviving eye witnesses of the actual
collision.
Chuck Spinner has a
unique interest in this tragedy. His family
lived just a block from the crossing where the
wreck occurred. He was in his mother's womb at
the time (he was born on October 22, 1946).
The last injured person from the wreck to be
released from treatment at St. Charles
Hospital was Tom Chaney. His therapy wasn't
complete until December 18th. Very likely
Chaney, during his rehabilitation at that same
hospital, visited the hospital's nursery,
where he quite possibly viewed the little
Spinner baby. Never would any of the hospital
personnel have thought that they were looking
at the author who, over six decades later,
would write the story that Chaney had just
lived.
The author can be
contacted through his email (spinlake@yahoo.com), by phone
(716-763-5408), or by mail (3152 Chautauqua
Ave., Ashville, New York 14710) and is
available for talks and book signings.
*****
After
five years of intense research, author Chuck
Spinner has written the definitive story of
the Naperville, Illinois, train wreck of
April 25, 1946. Chuck has uncovered the
histories of the 45 victims of the tragedy,
interviewed two surviving eye witnesses of
the event, and talked with survivors and
helpers at the scene. His family lived just
a block from the crossing where the accident
occurred. Spinner was born at St. Charles
Hospital in Aurora, Illinois on October 22,
1946. Thomas Chaney, was the last injured
passenger to be released from this same
hospital on December 18, 1946. Perhaps,
during his recovery, Chaney may have viewed
John and Louise's infant son in the nursery.
If so, Thomas would have never imagined that
he was viewing the person, who 66 years
later would write the story that he had just
lived!
Chuck
will be giving a talk and book signing at
Anderson's Bookstore at 2pm on Saturday, June
2nd, 2012. He also will be a
speaker at the Great
Midwest
Train Show on Sunday, June 3rd, at
a time yet to be determined.