Train Wreck

The picture above is of a locomotive my grandfather drove into a burst dam sandbar in June of 1932. The wreck included 17 boxcars that were reduced to kindling. Loss to the Santa Fe Railroad was $40,000.00 He was held blameless. Likewise, the two man crew of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train could not avoid a huge boulder that the spring storms helped loosen from the wall of Wind River Canyon. They escaped with a soaking and I assume some bruises. The similarity ends there. I imagine they are burning up $40,000 an hour on this project.

A derailment service is in charge and it was like watching a ballet as the heavy equipment operators attacked the wreck and the clearing of the track. It was amazing what they could do with those machines. A web album is posted.

It was a better day in terms of weather today. Much of the nearly 8 inches of snow we got is gone and it was almost balmy in the Wind River Canyon. The Native Americans used to winter there with good reason. It is protected and the hot springs in Thermopolis were ways to get warm. My spirits were good as we had our 100 mile field trip (roundtrip). The girl was patient so I decided to take her on some walkabouts and photo safaris on the way back. My first stop was the biffy at the state park campground. Emblazoned on the door was "Fee Must Be Paid to Use any Park Facility." I personally regard $4.00 to take a leak as exorbitant. I had no intention of paying. Comes the park attendant and pickup. So I make a big show of paying the damn fee-to pee. Having plunked it down I decided to take the dog on a good walk down by the river and snap some pictures. It may have been worth it to her but I am still irked.

Click the link for the annotated slideshow.

Wind River Canyon Train Wreck May 12, 2010