Nostalgia & History > Sabotage to #98 in Chatsworth area.

Does anyone have photos of the wreck of the Southbound Coast Daylight (#98)? I knew the engineer, Fritz Iverson, and remember him telling me that every time he came around that same bend he would slow down and stare at the switchpoints before releasing the brake. If I remember correctly the sabotours were never caught. Bud

If this is the one I think it is, it was in the SP Bulletin and kids did it and were caught

Fritz was lined to Ryker laboratories..he had a green signal... the switch target had been turned around plus a shunt was laid across the tracks giving the train a green signal... kinda terrifying!

I have had this website about the Coast Daylight wreck for years. Even one of those involved emailed me and told me off about it.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/1916/cd.wreck.html

Judge did the same thing to kids that let some propane cars go on the Ventura Branch. The Gaviota switcher met them in a cut. The two brakeman escaped by jumping and running up the sides of the cut. The other 2 were not as lucky. Tony Emanuel, the engineer was from SLO. I had worked the job for the first 3 days and he bumped me off it. 5 days later he was dead. The conductor too. They were burned to death, not by fire but by the propane being so cold. If those cars had caught fire it would have been like Roseville. Ventura would have lost a good portion of their residents.(We had it because of mileage owed to us by the San Joaquin Engineers.) The judge would not even let the SP lawyers into the hearing. They too, got a slap on the hand and were let go.

Nudge

That was so premeditated that those kids should have been tried for attempted murder (X the number of people on the train).

I wonder how the crew spotted the points from that distance.

Its something you pick up. Its dark spot where a brights one should be. After going over million's of switches, and miles of rail, if something is wrong, it jumps out at you.


Nudge

I'd like to think they would not get off with a slap on the wrist in this day and age of colored terror alerts. At least I don't think society is as tolerant of this kind of thing.

sphogger

They are starting to try 15 yr olds for murder now. I expect if the public gets hurt, things will change.

Does anyone remember a freight derailment that occured maybe 4-5 years after this about a mile to the west? A drunk went through the end of the road (Winnetka), which at the time dead ended at the tracks. His car bent the rail, and he left. The next train was and eastbound freight that piled up at something like 2am. I used to live in Northridge, and remember hearing the god awful crashing noise in the middle of the night, to discover the next day a huge train wreck. It was almost like a major sporting event the next day as many people were milling about touring the piles of freight cars that were created.

yes i remember John Binford, who was the headbrakeman, on that train.. he told me that he and the engineer came around the curve and the track was out of gauge.. and the last thing he remembered was he was choking on the dust.. he was not hurt and went to work that night... After that incident the SP put dead end street fences hooked up to the block signals. these fences would give a train a red signal equipped with a P place protecting that location. Trains were required to stop at the red signal and proceed to the protection point inspect the track and structures.. these places were located in the special instructions.

The site of the automobile knocking the tracks out of alignment is Mason Ave, recently opened up as a grade crossing. IIRC the driver of the car was found dead in the drainage ditch. The train crew reported a "sun kink" at 200 AM, and nobody had a better explanation until the sun came up and they found the real cause.

Thanks for the details. Interesting solution that SP came up with. A similar incident occured years later on the valley line north of Lancaster that caused a loaded BKDOL (or was it BKDOU by then?) to spill all over the place.