Saturday, April 6 will mark the 35th Anniversary of the Grand Trunk Railroad derailment in Washington Township. Let's take a deep dive into this unfortunate incident.
According to the April 12, 1989 issue of The Romeo Observer, 15 cars, which were part of a 26-car Grand Trunk Railroad train heading south to Rochester, "left the track just south of 30 Mile Road east of Van Dyke."
Today, that is the intersection at the Macomb Orchard Trail and 30 Mile Road.
Tim Weir - spokesman for Grand Trunk - mentioned that a mechanical problem caused the derailment. Specifically, a wheel assembly (also known as a truck) under the 12th car failed, which cause that one and the 14 other cars to leave the track. Many of the cars were open cars carrying gravel, and some were damaged beyond repair.
The photo seen above was taken by Douglas Card, and it shows the aftermath of the train wreck.
Three trainees and a certified engineer, who was taking a refresher course, were on board at the time of the incident, yet there were no injuries. The Grand Trunk trains were traveling these tracks as part of a training program.
The good news was that the rest of the train continued on to Rochester with no problems that we know of. In addition, a few days later, a firm from Ohio "rerailed the cars that were able to be salvaged."
Even though no one was hurt, let's hope that something like this will never happen again.
To see more photographs and articles from The Romeo Observer and other newspapers, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. You can also check out our online Archives Catalog at this link.
Source: The Romeo Observer, April 12, 1989, p.1-A