On this day, April 25, 1946, the wreck of the Exposition Flyer occurred.

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1. Two trains, one tragedy: Remembering the deadly wreck that shook Naperville 76 years ago

Sun Apr 25, 2021: Two trains, one tragedy: Remembering the deadly wreck that shook Naperville 75 years ago

There are several photographs in the article. If you can get past the paywall, the article is worth reading.

Two trains, one tragedy: Remembering the deadly wreck that shook Naperville 75 years ago

chicagotribune.com
Two trains, one tragedy: Remembering the deadly wreck that shook Naperville 75 years ago
Sunday marks the 75th anniversary of one of the worst train wrecks in Illinois history in which 45 people were killed and many more injured.

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Two trains, one tragedy: Remembering the deadly wreck that shook Naperville 75 years ago

By SUZANNE BAKER
NAPERVILLE SUN | APR 24, 2021 AT 8:32 AM

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Workers from the Kroehler Furniture company work to pull survivors from a passenger car after a two-train wreck on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad tracks adjacent to the Naperville factory on April 25, 1946. (Charles W. Cushman/Indiana University Archives) (Indiana University Archives)

The school day ended earlier than usual for Ron Keller when his father drove over to pick him up from Miss McDermond’s class on April 25, 1946. ... Dad didn’t want the young boy anywhere near the railroad tracks at Loomis Street, which he’d typically cross on his walk home from Ellsworth School. ... In the car, the elder Keller told his son about a horrific wreck in Naperville, explaining how one train ran into the back end of another.

“As a first-grader, I didn’t quite understand what the problem was because all I could relate to was my Lionel train. When one train ran into the other one, you’d put it back on the track,” said Keller, who for more than 50 years has been the Naperville Municipal Band conductor.

When their car reached the wooden bridge on Columbia Street over the railroad tracks, Keller’s dad stopped so they could survey the jumbled crash site. ... “You could see the mess that was there,” Keller said. “The locomotive of the second train ran almost completely through the back car of the lead train. Peeled it open like a tin can.”

Sunday marks the 75th anniversary of the crash, one of the worst train wrecks in Illinois history in which 45 people were killed and many more injured. ... Naperville residents — the town had a population of about 5,000 in 1946 — rushed to the aid of survivors and collect the dead in a disaster that shattered the early afternoon peace.

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MORE COVERAGE

How the 1946 disaster in Naperville resulted in limits being placed on train speeds

Timeline of deadly 1946 train collision in Naperville

Sculpture near Naperville train station commemorates those who died, survived or helped in 1946 collision

Many of the photographs in the article are from the Charles W. Cushman photograph collection at Indiana University.

Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection

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Charles Weever Cushman, amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, bequeathed approximately 14,500 Kodachrome color slides to his alma mater. The photographs in this collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time he extensively documented the United States as well as other countries.

Indiana University's Digital Library Program and the Indiana University Archives invite you to explore what Cushman saw. Here you can view his photographs as well as read contextual information about Cushman's life and work.

Here's one that will give an idea of how horrible this wreck was: