Steam & Excursion > A real near disaster at Evanston

I am not sure of all of the details, but as 4014 followed down  track 3 ( dont know if this is the true designation) north of mainline 2, heading to the stop in Evanston,WY she came to a stop with a bunch of green jackets working feverishly in front of her.  From my point of view on south side of the tracks, between track 3 and the mainlines, there was a long string of very large boulders, many of them too big for  one man to move. 

There were boulders that had to be removed before the train could proceed.  I think some of the boulders were between the rails !  Some of the boulders were removed by a back hoe

The train was at full stop here for over 20 minutes, before moving toward the depot after the boulders were removed.  

I do not know if the crew knew of these boulders being on or near the track before they saw them.   The  boilders were fairly quickly removed and the train proceeded into the city center.  

There was the potential for a big time problem there



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/19 16:02 by dougd.

That could have been a disaster, glad they stopped in time.

Posted from Android

I wondered what that backhoe was doing over there.  The operator of that thing sure did hustle it over after the train stopped.

Scott Griggs

So where was the track & time on the track(s) that were fouled? Or was the real problem on an adjacent track and men were fouling track 3, or whatever track thge train was on. Was the backhoe fouling the track the train was on? A lot of unanswered questions here. If they were out there without time, then a few job openings might have just been posted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/19 15:47 by SP4360.

The workers cleared rocks off or from beside the track 4014 was on.  4014 could not proceed because, as it appeared to me, to do so would have run the train upon the rocks or scraped the engine from rocks too close to the track.  The radio conversation I assume from crew on 4014 to a supervisor on the ground , requested visual assistance to make sure 4014 would clear rocks beside the rail.  This after what I assumed to be removal of rocks between the rails 4014 was on, and close beside the rails.  

I do not say I saw rocks between the rails, it only appeared so from my vantage point, and from watching the green jackets, and observing their and the backhoe's actions

Sorry I do not speak railroad, am only an eyewitness.  Others can verify or contest.  Will soon post pictures

This was in between I-80 and downtown Evanston, as the rails pass Walmart, before entering the downtown area.

Picture posted at 17:20

Doug 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/19 16:42 by dougd.

SP4360 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So where was the track & time on the track(s) that
> were fouled? Or was the real problem on an
> adjacent track and men were fouling track 3, or
> whatever track thge train was on. Was the backhoe
> fouling the track the train was on? A lot of
> unanswered questions here. If they were out there
> without time, then a few job openings might have
> just been posted.


Get out of here with that. Nothing like an internet snitch.

Wow this proves again that any post on here can turn into a can of worms in a few short posts by others that mean nothing. What  a TO deal. HO HUM

Very few boulders in area, mostly grassland, if near the Walmart. Like to hear details.

Photo here of the boulders:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4787478

Hard to sort out truth from fiction around here.