Nothing Stops the Santa Fe!

 

In February of 1990 I was chasing this eastbound Santa Fe general merchandise train across the Audley Valley on the Saligman Subdivision. Any employee on the sub will tell you it's no easy task running a train across the rolling land at speed. This train broke into two pieces right before my eyes as I paced it along the highway. After giving a headman a ride back to the break, we realized just how serious this could have been. A drawbar had broke on a piggyback flat was placed in front of a cut of heavy ballast cars. The bar hit the axle shearing the pin to the flat and sent the entire truck back about four feet. The pig flat rested at an awkward angle when all came to a stop. The train could have spilt all over the countryside, but remained upright. What's more, the rear of the train stopped clear of a temporary switch that was in place for an upcoming tie replacement program on the ABS territory line. As you'll see, westbound traffic need not to slow, but gives ample warning(HORNS!!) to the men converging on the scene to keep things moving. The eastbounds must us caution through the new switch and to run against traffic via "paper" orders from the dispatcher. ENJOY! Tim Wakeman