The Indianola Train Wreck (also known as the McCook train wreck) was a railway accident that occurred at 7:08 a.m. on May 29, 1911, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad one half mile west of Indianola, Nebraska leaving 18 dead and 32 injured.
However, eastbound train number 12 continued past Red Willow and built up speed to approximately 55 mph (90 km/h) heading toward Indianola.
An investigation of the accident was performed by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and a report was generated on October 18, 1912.
The direct cause of the accident was that eastbound train number 12 failed to stop at Red Willow as directed in order #19 which read "[Train] number 9 will meet ...No 12 at Red Willow and..No 12 will take siding".
The ICC added that the collision could have been avoided if the track had been equipped with an automatic block signal system.