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Guys I have This Article On the Trains Magazine That At Least seven people were hurt, none seriously, july 29 when Amtrak's southbound Texas Eagle, doing 35 mph, derailed on washout-weakened Union Pacific track at 2:04 a.m. at Sabula, Mo., 104 miles south of St. Louis. The 19-car train was carrying 178 Passengers and 12 crew. Both Locomotives (P42's 131 and 76) and 7 cars derailed; two coaches, an express car, and 9 Roadrailers stayed on the track.
Up to six inches of rain had fallen in the area, washing out a 50-foot long, 4-foot deep section of roadbed.
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Lucky it was only doing 35. I would think with that much rain they aught to send a high-railer out ahead of it!
Posts: 75 | From: Somerville, NJ USA | Registered: Jun 2001
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I was on the Coast Starlight in July of 1999, and we stopped a few times to have the bridges checked by "official bridge inspectors," according to the conductor. My recent trip on the Chief had the same thing. We stopped at a few bridges with high, fast running water, and someone made sure that they were okay. I read that BNSF (and probably [hopefully] other railroads)issue 20 or 25MPH slow orders when water is high. That was the case after the Chief derailed over a washed out bridge in 1997, near Kingman, AZ.
[This message has been edited by Eric (edited 09-09-2001).]
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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