dave@uwmcsd1.UUCP (Dave Rasmussen) (10/13/86)
There was a private showing of about 40 private railcars at the Amtrak station in milwaukee this weekend, sponsored by the NHRS(?). I forgot about the show until late sunday afternoon at which point half the cars had left. Donning a pair of dirty gloves and cheap clothes, I wandered into the station area and acting as a rail worker was not noticed while looking over the equipment. I got a tour of the car "Good Cheer" of some NHRS chapter in Texas, which had offered both one day and round trips on this car which came up from texas on the Eagle to chicago, then to milwaukee for the weekend, and then back to texas via new orleans. The daily runs were on the order of $40 stop to stop, and a round trip to and from texas to club members was $900 which included amtrak sleeping accomodations. The show was preceeded by an Amtrak derailment in Park Falls (?) Wisconsin. Although still under investigation, rumor is that there was a lack of communication between Amtrak and Soo Line work crews who switched the train around a section of trackwork. The trackage before the switch was rated at 70mph, and switch speed supposedly is 10mph max. The engines jumped and rolled over in a muddy bog, the cab filling with mud and asphyxiating one crew member. One Amtrak car overturned. 8 or so other people were hurt seriously of 250 passengers. This train was also pulling 5 or so old coaches for the show. One damaged it's "Waukesha" propane engine. Question: A collegue of mine mentioned that some time ago someone posted info about a magazine dedicated to private cars. Could anyone fill me in with this info? -- The views above are those of my keyboard, not my organization. Dave Rasmussen c/o Computing Services Division @ U of WI - Milwaukee INTERNET: uwmcsd1!dave@rsch.wisc.edu UUCP: ihnp4!uwmcsd1!dave
wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (Bill Dippert) (10/14/86)
In article <1359@uwmcsd1.UUCP>, dave@uwmcsd1.UUCP (Dave Rasmussen) writes: > > The show was preceeded by an Amtrak derailment in Park Falls (?) Wisconsin. > Although still under investigation, rumor is that there was a lack of > communication between Amtrak and Soo Line work crews who switched the train > around a section of trackwork. The trackage before the switch was rated at > 70mph, and switch speed supposedly is 10mph max. The engines jumped and rolled > over in a muddy bog, the cab filling with mud and asphyxiating one crew member. > One Amtrak car overturned. 8 or so other people were hurt seriously of 250 > passengers. This train was also pulling 5 or so old coaches for the show. One > damaged it's "Waukesha" propane engine. > Can anyone provide further information on this wreck? The reason that I am asking is that our neighbors were on that train and were reported to be hospitalized. Their names are Edward and Maybelle Butchino. Our local tv station reported that they were hospitalized and later released but nothing was said about how bad they were injured or whether they were able to continue their trip. Would appreciate any information available. Thanks in advance, --Bill Dippert-- tektronix!tekigm2!wrd