Noel Train Explosions

In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning, August 3, 1969, the town of Noel (MO) was jarred awake by an explosion aboard a Kansas City Southern freight train that had stopped in the small McDonald County town. But it was just a precursor to a bigger, more devastating explosion.

Awakened by the first blast, many local residents had started toward the scene to investigate the source of the explosion when a second, huge blast ripped through the town at about 4:03 a.m., killing one person, injuring about 40 others, and leaving almost the whole town in shambles. Mrs. Roxa Miller, who had gone into the street after the first blast and had started back up the steps into her home, was killed when she was hit by a piece of flying debris from the second explosion.

Initial reports placed the number of businesses destroyed or heavily damaged at 58. Thirty-one homes were ruined and another 58 heavily damaged. One church was demolished. Five railroad cars were destroyed. Nearby trees were snapped, and leaves were blown off trees throughout the town. One person who lived six miles away reported damaged to his home. The blasts triggered several nearby fires and blew a hole in the roadbed 12 to 15 feet deep and 30 to 40 feet in width. 

All 750 residents of Noel and a number of tourists were evacuated for fear of another explosion. A particular concern was that a propane storage tank near the site of the two explosions might also blow up.

The drama began about 3;45 a.m. when the crew of the 115-car KCS freight train noticed a fire aboard the train. They tried to cut out the burning car onto a siding, but the explosion came before they could get the car out of town. 

Noel was declared a disaster area a couple of days after the devastating blasts, making the town eligible for federal funds to help rebuild. 

Investigators were unsure at first what caused the explosions, and even after days of investigation, their conclusions were tentative. The best evidence suggested that a flat car carrying 26 canisters of ammonium perchlorate was on fire when the train rolled into town, and this set off a chain reaction starting with an explosion aboard the flat car and culminating in the explosion of a nearby box car filled with dehydrated alfalfa.