Today in Chicago History: 7 killed when trains crash near Gary

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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.

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)

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.

Chicago won 15-12.

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.

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)

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.

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