| Posted by on March 27, 2016 | |
My son Adam friends Ron and Dan Morales and myself were passengers onboard Amtrak #5 on our way to Denver to ride behind the UP 8444 back in 1985 when a side swipe collision took place between an eastbound BN freight traveling at 60mph and our train traveling at 79mph occurred at the very spot in the photo. There was one fatality and over 80 people were injured. We all were transported to the Hospital in Creston,IA.. All of our party had minor injuries myself diagnosed with a broken collar bone. We all got on #5 the next day and just made the steam excursion out of Denver for Laramie and return all of us sore after being banged up in the wreck. Twenty years later I was Superintendent for the IMRL out of the Quad Cities and after a trip to the west coast I returned with partial paralysis to my left side. I was diagnosed with a twenty year old broken neck injury that had to have immediate surgery. Needless to say my 40 year RR career came to a close in 2005 with no recourse towards any one entity. Been retired for 11 years now but being in a number of wrecks as an Engineer/Fireman I'll always remember Thayer as a passenger.
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Tom, thank you for sharing your story. There are many pictures on RP that evoke many memories and touch people in so many ways. I’m just sorry my photo sparked a memory of a day of tragedy for you.
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