A Major Train Wreck
- June 15, 2005
- 7 comments
Something exciting actually happened in this sleepy little town! There was a major train wreck which I imagine will take several weeks to repair.
Several railroad cars derailed when the tracks they were on buckled and broke. According to some people who watched it happen, they said the tracks were bouncing up and down right before it happened. There was a lot of loud popping sounds as the bolts holding the tracks together broke and sent the railroad cars crashing into the nearby embankment. Several hundred feet of track was ruined and the cars took out an almost 100 year old bridge. Luckily the train just missed the highway 71 bridge. THAT would’ve been a major mess since it’s a major thoroughfare for traffic between Texarkana and Fort Smith.
It happened right behind my uncle’s house. He said it made a horrible noise when it happened. There was a train derailment near this same spot last year, but it wasn’t as bad. Apparently, this is a really bad stretch of track.
Below are a couple of pictures. You can view them larger, as well as another picture of the wreck, at Flickr.
Yeah, I had never seen a train wreck before either. It was amazing how much damage those relatively few train cars did to the surrounding area. They completely stripped clean the side of the embankment. No shrubs, no grass, no nothing left except bare dirt.
Train track was bent in ways I didn’t know it could bend. It was probably still under some stress here and there. I’m surprised they hadn’t cordoned off the area. They had only blocked access to that bridge.
Hello Chris
something really off topic:
the link in the ad for the free iPod is not working!
Arent there other ways to get a free iPod Shuffle?
Ztr59
June 27, 2006
ANDREW
October 2, 2006
ANDREW
October 2, 2006
Hot damn. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Thankfully, no one was hurt.