October 30, 1972: A collision between two commuter trains in Chicago occurs during the cloudy morning rush hour. It remains the worst such crash in the city's history.
Illinois Central Gulf train 416 overshot the 27th Street station on what is now the Metra Electric Line, and the engineer asked and received permission from the train's conductor to back the train to the platform. This move was then made without the flag protection required by the railroad's rules. However, his train had cleared automatic block signals which cleared express train 720 to continue at full speed on the same track. The engineer of the express train did not see the other train backing up until it was too late.
When the trains collided, the front car of the express train telescoped the rear car of the bilevel train, killing 45 people and injuring 332.
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October 30, 1972 was a Monday. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 28-24 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
Baseball season was over. There were no NBA, NHL or WHA games on the night, but there was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Utah Stars beat the Kentucky Colonels, 117-106 at the Salt Palac in Salt Lake City.
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