1999 "City of New Orleans" Amtrak Crash Memorial - Bourbonnais, IL
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 41° 09.302 W 087° 52.740
16T E 426247 N 4556339
Along with municipal dollars, Donated Bricks helped "pave" the way for a monument of two large plaques remembering the 11 people killed and to all those who came forward to help, plus a statue specifically for the children killed in the crash.
Waymark Code: WM3T70
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/14/2008
Views: 40
The actual crash occured at
Waymark WM22FM.
The monument for the 1999 "City of New Orleans" Amtrak Crash is located towards the center of town at a major intersection.
The first plaque explains how the accident occured when a steel laden truck failed to complete the at-grade crossing in a timely manner and the "City of New Orleans" Amtrak train hit the truck and derailed. Eleven people were killed and 122 injured as a result.
The eleven killed are named in this first plaque:
Helena Adkins, 42 - Bremerton, WA
Wendy Vant, 42 - Bremerton, WA
Leona Vant, 71 - Bremerton, WA
Vergil Vant, 76 - Bremerton, WA
Marie Munson, 64 - Mount Prospect, IL
Keiichi Momura, 20 - Tokushima, Japan
Jessica Tickle, 11 - Nesbit, MS
June Lee Bonnin, 46 - Nesbit, MS
Rainey Lipscomb, 10 - Lake Cormorant, MS
Lacey Lipscomb, 8 - Lake Cormorant, MS
Sheena Dowe, 22 - Jackson, MS
The second plaque, along with the first, honors all those in the community that came forth to help during the disaster.
The bricks in this area are donated by municipal leaders and corporate organizations.
A special children's memorial statue was included for the children killed in the crash. But because all children are special and should be remembered, local families could sponsor a sidewalk brick for the children they hold dear.