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An article in the 2/2/01 Washington Post described an incident on the 1/24 eastbound SW Chief, where the engineer and his assistant got into an "altercation" while the train was en route. The engineers were taken into custody by the police in Needles, CA. The police were tipped off by the engineer (not identified) who phoned ahead to the Needles police in order to have the assistant placed under citizen's arrest. Both engineers ended up in jail as they each pressed for the arrest of the other. The dispute was evidently caused by one smoking while the other did not, and the assistant engineer not willing to take over running the train for part of the route. Evidently the assistant was from the UP and was less familiar with the BNSF route.
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