Passenger Trains > The positive fallout of the Colfax derailment

Before I continue with this great story I need to say something before anyone gets too mad. Derailments and accidents on the railroad are horrible events, they can financially hurt a railroad and can also put lives in danger. Overall I wish the derailment never happened, but when we heard the news in Roseville, some pretty great things happened.

On Sunday the 20th of January around 11 AM a railfan and myself heard on the radio that a westbound freight was on the ground around Colfax but didnt hear any more details until later in the afternoon. We were scheduled to meet up with another railfan to chase trains on Donner pass at the Roseville station at 11 AM
We had all finally met up and decided to watch the eastbound Zephyr come into Roseville. The train stopped and we decided to talk to the crew. Number 6 was ordered to hold at Roseville until there was more information about the mess at Colfax. This time allowed for us railfans to to socialize and shoot the breeze with a dead heading UP crew and also the crew of 6.

Another unofficial railfan was also at the station and the crew of 6 noticed her and said that she always waved to crews as they went through Rocklin but never knew anything about her. They introduced themselves and reminisced about watching trains in Rocklin. The crew got a picture and we had a great time talking about Donner pass and the train community.

This accident brought so many different walks of life that share a common interest together to talk about trains and share stories. Something that makes this hobby and way of life something special. This day I will now remember as the day number 6 almost went the Feather River route



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/13 13:16 by SCUfoamer.

1. Engineer and conductor assess the situation
2. The Zephyr crew makes a new friend because of a couple hour stop

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Nice to see our own IC_2024 out there being a friendly(bearded) face to Amtrak. ;-)

Top_bullfrog
Sacramento, CA

I love the classic Fighting Illini sweatshirt. Hard to find those these days

Thanks, Andrew, for this post... great photos, too, from that new lens of yours!
It's always a pleasure having the opportunity to meet new folks from our railroad fraternity, whether they are fans, workers or just wanting to talk trains for awhile. Sunday at RSV definitely gave us some time for that ; )
I also got a kick out of the "Fighting Illini" comments--Gotta remember my roots for sure!

I'll trade IC_2024 a Cal hoodie for a cab ride. I'll even throw in a ball cap for those sunny days.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Thanks, Andrew, for this post... great photos,
> too, from that new lens of yours!
> It's always a pleasure having the opportunity to
> meet new folks from our railroad fraternity,
> whether they are fans, workers or just wanting to
> talk trains for awhile. Sunday at RSV definitely
> gave us some time for that ; )
> I also got a kick out of the "Fighting Illini"
> comments--Gotta remember my roots for sure!


Glad this got around to you Mr. Jones! It was great meeting you, I will now venture up to the hill more often because you and others make it worth the trip!
How long did you folks remain in Roseville?

I stipulate that derailments are not a good thing, especially in a small burg like Colfax where the tracks cut right through town. But on Monday my son was due to go from Colfax to Reno. Because of the derailment, Amtrak gave him a free ride from Roseville to his former departure spot, supposedly because #6 was not going to stop in Colfax. The upshot of this all was I was able to catch both #5 and #6 in Roseville within about 15 minutes. A plus, #5 was pulling two PV, supposedly heading for Key Holidays Snow trains. Both crews were chatty enough and friendly to a rail fan.

I miss the point of this entirely. The gist seems to be that because of a terrible derailment in Colfax, railfans got to see and photograph trains and shoot the breeze. I find this reasoning rather warped.

Ptolemy Wrote:
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> I miss the point of this entirely. The gist
> seems to be that because of a terrible derailment
> in Colfax, railfans got to see and photograph
> trains and shoot the breeze. I find this
> reasoning rather warped.

I don't know how "terrible" it was because no one was killed or injured, no buildings destroyed, some people evacuated for a couple of hours because of a suspicious but ultimately proven non-toxic fluid leakage, some cargo most likely destroyed, some railcars damaged, track damaged, crossings blocked for awhile-------all cleaned up in pretty quick time in good weather on a Sunday------------lots of people standing around socializing----yes, it was a major inconvenience and will cost the railroad and the insurance company some bucks, but a major tragedy it was not. Lighten up! :-)
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/13 17:16 by CarolVoss.

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ptolemy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I miss the point of this entirely. The gist
> > seems to be that because of a terrible
> derailment
> > in Colfax, railfans got to see and photograph
> > trains and shoot the breeze. I find this
> > reasoning rather warped.
>
> I don't know how "terrible" it was because no one
> was killed or injured, no buildings destroyed,
> some people evacuated for a couple of hours
> because of a suspicious but ultimately proven
> non-toxic fluid leakage, some cargo most likely
> destroyed, some railcars damaged, track damaged,
> crossings blocked for awhile-------all cleaned up
> in pretty quick time in good weather on a
> Sunday------------lots of people standing around
> socializing----yes, it was a major inconvenience
> and will cost the railroad and the insurance
> company some bucks, but a major tragedy it was
> not. Lighten up! :-)
> C.

I would say any derailment is terrible and when it is really OK because people can socialize, that is weird!

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CarolVoss Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ptolemy Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > I miss the point of this entirely. The gist
> > > seems to be that because of a terrible
> > derailment
> > > in Colfax, railfans got to see and photograph
> > > trains and shoot the breeze. I find this
> > > reasoning rather warped.
> >
> > I don't know how "terrible" it was because no
> one
> > was killed or injured, no buildings destroyed,
> > some people evacuated for a couple of hours
> > because of a suspicious but ultimately proven
> > non-toxic fluid leakage, some cargo most likely
> > destroyed, some railcars damaged, track
> damaged,
> > crossings blocked for awhile-------all cleaned
> up
> > in pretty quick time in good weather on a
> > Sunday------------lots of people standing
> around
> > socializing----yes, it was a major
> inconvenience
> > and will cost the railroad and the insurance
> > company some bucks, but a major tragedy it was
> > not. Lighten up! :-)
> > C.
>
> I would say any derailment is terrible and when it
> is really OK because people can socialize, that is
> weird!

Derailments happen all the time in varying degrees of calamity measures and people congregate around them all the time------------a regular post-er here on TO who worked for one of the Class 1's as a spokesperson can tell of a really really really big mess near a really really big city in a really really big state where the media was there for days all lined up with the cameras waiting---hoping?--for a major major explosion/disaster scene for visuals and ratings and every day the mayor of that really really big city near that really really big mess would come out to "comment" on the situation and get his face time on all the local news stations to feather his political nest.
So don't get all "harrumphy" over what railfans do when there is some excitement in the neighborhood.
Sheesh. :-)
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I miss the point of this entirely.


Why am I not surprised?


One more try at it: Original author repeatedly said he wasn't saying it was great there was a derailment. You ignore. Then he tells a nice story of how an unpredictable incident did end up allowing for people who see each other from afar regularly but have never actually met or talked get the unexpected chance to meet and talk. Ya know, the kind of human interest twist that has been part of the plot of great and not so great literature throughout history.

What? No Orange Bowl Northern Illinois sweatshirt? Ha!

When life serves up lemons, make lemonade.

SCUfoamer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. Engineer and conductor assess the situation
> 2. The Zephyr crew makes a new friend because of a
> couple hour stop


I know those 2 hoggers. 1 is a member of T/O.

Yup, I don't think it makes sense to complain about people taking advanatge of something bad to produce something we all agree is good.

trains out of their slot equal different opportunities

Spoony81 Wrote:
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> I love the classic Fighting Illini sweatshirt.
> Hard to find those these days


There's an Illini sweatshirt in that pic? ;)

Well at least the majority of the members reading this post enjoyed the story I put forward. SHEESH!