Passenger Trains > Heritage + Nature

During the night of January 14 around 11:30 PM MT, AMTRAK 3, with heritage motor 822, struck an elk near Kingman AZ.  Antler/bone under the train opened the HEP cabling, however the fix was in and around 45 minutes later the train moved.  A visual at LA Union Station the next morning showed a good ten pounds of elk goo over a large area of the plow, coupler and the fireman's side of the air connections.  I am not particularly superstitious and the fact that I boarded the train on Friday the 13th and was assigned roomette 13 makes me even less so. It was the elk's unlucky day.