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Give This Train a Wide Berth
Nov. 17th, 2021 12:17 pmYesterday morning, I heard the Union Pacific dispatcher putting trains into sidings up and down the Nevada Subdivision, telling them, "I've got a special coming through, so you'll need to wait." As luck would have it, I was able to get out and record it as it was coming by, after the BNSF local (now using Union Pacific locomotives) locked into Fernley's small yard and the Union Pacific "Fernley Flyer" had just gone by on the main.
( Special Coming Through )
When I first heard about the special, I thought it might be a UP business train (they do come through here periodically). I was surprised to see just a bunch of containers. Then I zoomed in and could see that they all had orange hazmat placards. That means it was a train of explosives! Such trains of course need special and careful handling, or you can get a catastrophe. In 1973 in Southern Pacific's Roseville yard, only about 25 mi / 40 km from my home where I lived with my grandparents in Tudor, California, a munitions train exploded. My grandparents said they thought they heard the explosion, although I (only six years old at the time) had no memory of it.
( Special Coming Through )
When I first heard about the special, I thought it might be a UP business train (they do come through here periodically). I was surprised to see just a bunch of containers. Then I zoomed in and could see that they all had orange hazmat placards. That means it was a train of explosives! Such trains of course need special and careful handling, or you can get a catastrophe. In 1973 in Southern Pacific's Roseville yard, only about 25 mi / 40 km from my home where I lived with my grandparents in Tudor, California, a munitions train exploded. My grandparents said they thought they heard the explosion, although I (only six years old at the time) had no memory of it.
