Zephyr Suffers Minor Derailment in Snow Storm

[AlanB]

One passenger car on a westbound Amtrak train derailed about 40 miles west of Truckee, Calif., on Thursday, stranding about 300 people for more than 14 hours. The train got moving again at about 3:30 a.m. Friday. No one was hurt.
Passengers had heat and light except for a couple of hours while engines were separated so the train could be reassembled on an adjacent track, Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said. He said the derailment may have been caused by snow plowed onto the westbound track when the eastbound one was being cleared.

The full story from WCBS News Radio.

 

[tp49]

Must have been fun trying to get to the train with I-80 closed due to the heavy snow in the sierra, they're just lucky it was one truck on the lead coach and nothing else, crews had to be ferried in via the snow clearing equipment.

 

[steve_relei]

Almost a replay of the infamous incident in 1952 when the City of San Francisco was stranded for several days due to an avalanche in the Sierras. Only one person died (a worker who had a neart attack), but it could give people a severe case of claustrophobia--even avid railfans. Still, it's good that people were all right, no one died or was injured. Still, it's the type of incident that might make people decide not to take the train again. Taht's unfortunate.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Steve, you beat me to the draw about the 1952 CIty of San Francisco being stuck. I remember the TRAINS article very welll--it was entitled "The Case of the Stranded Streamliner".

 

[battalion51]

Almost a replay of the infamous incident in 1952 when the City of San Francisco was stranded for several days due to an avalanche in the Sierras. Only one person died (a worker who had a neart attack), but it could give people a severe case of claustrophobia--even avid railfans. Still, it's good that people were all right, no one died or was injured. Still, it's the type of incident that might make people decide not to take the train again. Taht's unfortunate.

This moth's issue of Trains (Feb 2004) made the very same reference. It also gave a very good description of what happened then and now to get the train out. Oddly enough the San Francisco Zephyr incident happened at MP 177, this was at the 179 I believe.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

B51, When I got home last night, after reading this post, my Feb. TRAINS had arrived. I could not find the reference. What page is it on? Thanks.

Also you made a little slip of the tongue, or of the keyboard, by saying "San Francisco Zephyr". That was a name temporarily used for awhile toward the ending of the railroads and the beginning of Amtrak.

But the train in the 1952 incident was the City of S. F, of the famous Union Pacific fleet of beautiful yellow stfreamliners called the City of SF, CIty of LA, City of Portland, City of Denver and City of St. Louis. The City of S.F. was an interline operation, though, and was on Southern Pacific tracks when that happened. These were not related to the the historical CZ(which traveled a completely different route from Salt Lake City to SF than it does now.)

That whole donner pass area is rather famous for strandings, the people who were stranded for several weeks in the mid 1800's, I believe it was.

There is some delightful wisecrack comedy movie in which as a brief cameo thing an employee in a restaurant announces, "Donner. Pary of 50". That occurs in some kind of movie of the sort that Steve Martin would be in. Does anybody know what movie I am talking about? It is a movie of the "Airplane" nature.

 

[battalion51]

Well I was on the right track. It was on the Trains.com newswire, sorry bout that. Here's the story:

Snowstorm closes UP Donner Pass route, strands California Zephyr
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Shades of a half century ago! A massive snowstorm that hit northern California, Oregon, and on Nevada New Year’s Day closed Union Pacific’s Overland Route through northern California’s Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada after Amtrak train 5, the California Zephyr, bound from Chicago, Ill. to Emeryville, Calif., derailed the third car from the front about 27 miles west of Truckee during blizzard conditions at about 1:20 p.m. The car, coach 34088, was believed to have derailed due to snow and ice buildup around the lead truck. Truckee is 32 miles west of Reno, Nev., and 103 miles east of Sacramento, Calif.

The train, with 2 locomotives and 12 cars, was stuck for over 14 hours. There were no injuries among the 300 passengers and 15 crewmembers. Until rescue operations began, the train was never without electrical power, lights, food or water. The incident occurred at Milepost 179.5 at the approach to Snowshed 10 at Crystal Lake, at the end of double track on the west slope of Donner while the Zephyr was going slow, awaiting an eastbound flanger that was clearing snow. Historians will recall that the 1952 snowslide that hit Southern Pacific’s streamliner “City of San Francisco” going across Donner on January 13, 1952, occurred nearby, at Milepost 177.

While the westbound Amtrak train was derailed, eastbound California Zephyr counterpart train 6 was held at Emigrant Gap, Calif., at Milepost 170.7 before being released to run at reduced speed past the derailment.

After a UP flanger cleared an estimated four feet of snow from around the stuck train No. 5, UP freight helper locomotives coupled onto the Zephyr’s rear and pulled nine cars about 12 miles back to Norden, at which time the train had no electricity or heat, owing to the Amtrak locomotives, which provide HEP (head-end power) for those auxiliary services, remaining at the derailment site on the front of the train.

After the UP engines ran around the Zephyr’s cars at Norden, they then pulled them west to Shed 10 where the Amtrak engines and baggage car were waiting. Once reassembled, minus the derailed coach and dormitory car 39008 which had to be left behind when crews couldn’t uncouple it from the coach, train 5 departed Shed 10 for Emeryville at 3:34 a.m. on January 2. The two cars left behind were later handled by a derrick and work train stationed at Roseville, Calif., only to have the coach derail again a few minutes later. The second rerailing occurred at 1:15 p.m., and both cars were taken by the work train to Roseville.

The Donner Pass line was closed until Friday afternoon for snow removal, forcing more than half of UP’s freight trains to detour on its Feather River Canyon line to the north, the former Western Pacific. Five freight trains, three westbounds and two eastbounds, were held on both sides of the Donner line until it reopened.

 

[PRR 60]

There is some delightful wisecrack comedy movie in which as a brief cameo thing an employee  in a restaurant  announces, "Donner. Pary of 50". That occurs in some kind of movie of the sort that Steve Martin would be in. Does anybody know what movie I am talking about? It is a movie of the "Airplane" nature.

"Patch Adams" (1998) with Robin Williams. Williams plays a wisecracking medical student who treats patients with humer in a straightlaced hospital. "Donner: party of 50." is one of his jokes to a room of patients.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

PRR, interesting that you heard that line about "Donner, party of 50" in a hospital waiting room context. I am sure it was a restaurant scene that I remembered, so there are at least two such movies out there.

Interesting in what B-51 sent, that very last paragraph refers to being switched over on the Western Pacific route. That, in fact, is the route the historical CZ originally took. It is an extremely scenic route(widely-advertised and known for the Feather River Canyon), possibly more so than the former Southern Pacific(and present Amtrak) route.

On my very first trip west, to SF, Xmas of 1964, I was on the CZ and the Western Pacific tracks had washed away in the perpetual rain, we were diverted to Southern Pacific tracks(which route Amtrak presently uses) , and that was snowed in. Then we were put on buses, started out on one highway, that was closed. Went back, our buses got on a second highway and we finally arrived SF nine hours late.

 

[tp49]

The discussion about rerouting the Zephyr over the old WP route when Donner is closed came up on a Yahoo Group I belong to and the consensus was that if Donner was closed the old WP would most certainly close as well as it generally closes before the route over Donner would. Also, IIRC from the discussion the old WP route would cause the train to bypass Reno, and with no stops or places to let passengers off to bus them to Reno they figured this would not happen. Not to mention the need for a UP pilot to help get the Amtrak crew through that area.

 

[Diane]

On Saturday the 3rd, when we were on the CS, we met a woman who was on the CZ and told us in great detail about it. First off she said that being on Donners Pass when it happened was very eerie. She also said that they were told the reason for the derailment was track plowing wasn't done properly.

She did in fact say that they were without power and heat for quite some time, a few hours or more. She also said the train ran out of food.

It was not a fun expirence. She did say, however, that Amtrak employees were amazing and helpful. One thing that was very interesting to her when the accident happend was everybody on the train became very very quite and stayed that way the whole time.

On Donners Pass with no power, no food, everyone quite, can you imagine the ideas going through everybodies head.

 

[PRR 60]

Out of food on Donner Pass? Did anyone do before and after passenger counts?