Nostalgia & History > ATSF Doublea Az. Wreck 1964

On April 05 1964 Santa Fe Train 123 (Grand Canyon) hit a rock slide in a deep cut at Doublea AZ killing 3 and injuring 33.
Train speed was 81 mph.
Consist was 42L-37B-304A-36B-37L.
What carnage!
TAH

---

---

---

More.

---

---

---

And more.

---

---

---

And some more.

---

---

---

Possibly the worst wreck I've ever seen.
37 was a bad luck engine.
It was only a few years before that it hit a gas truck near Bakersfield and incinerated several people.
TAH

Posted from Android

Thanks for posting these!  Seems like I have seen those before and had forgot about them.

texchief1

What a mess. I'm surprised only 3 fatalities.

3 of the Pullman-Standard/Topeka Shops baggage cars; 1 ACF 1955 baggage car, and one 1946 Budd coach wrecked beyond repair.  

Is that track still in service?

Posted from Android

That was bad! Yes, todays BNSF Seligman Sub transcon main.
JB

What a terrible accident. My heart goes out for those souls who lost their lives or were injured. By no means do I want to be disrespectful however I'm sure the railroad compensated those who were injured and that was it. No injury lawyers were involved. Today if something like that happened those lawyers would be all over this. I think back from the 50's up to the early 90's when the railroads entertained so many enthusiast enjoying trips pulled by the major railroads. Then the injury lawyers began showing up ending all of this. If you got a cinder in your eye an injury lawyer was ready for you and a law suit. I rode many Southern/NS excursions then it stopped just because they didn't want to be held liable. Just my opinion.   

Westbound on the Crookton Cutoff speed limit is 90mph.    Looks like they were making that at the time.

Was there just the one coach carrying passengers?  The rest of the cars M&E?  Or were there more passenger cars that didn't derail and were pulled away?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/24 20:17 by MILW16.

Asked around about this at the Shasta Division archives and was sent this map and have the ok to post it.
Added a cropped map, the upper line being the present double track and the lower with abandonment dates. I don't know if this has been published.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/24 20:35 by TCnR.

---

---

It does attest to the how crashworthy the equipment had become for the times. It could have been much worse. 

Here's the link to the ICC report: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/44555

The wreck happened at 2:18 a.m.  The engineer, fireman, and a railway express messenger perished, and the injured included 10 railroad employees and 23 passengers.  The train's consist was 16 cars, but the report indicates only the first 12 derailed, with the 13th still on the track and "slightly damaged."  The first ten cars were baggage, mail, and express cars, followed by four chair cars and two sleepers on the end. 

The last two photos above show the rock slide itself, and it's also visible in the second photo back where the derrick is.  You can see the disturbed cliff face to the left - the report says at the top of the bench (leveled area halfway up the side of the cut), the newly-made gap from the slide was 100 feet wide and 14 feet deep.  The lead unit came to rest 590 feet beyond the point of impact.  The Crookton Cutoff was four years old at this point, and 705 feet of slide fencing had been installed in the 7200 foot long cut.  Unfortunately, the slide came down about 1000 feet east of the end of the fence.  Not surprisingly, the report recommends extending the slide fence all the way through the cut. 

This appears to be the cut in question.  The West DoubleA crossover and setout track is at the east end: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MYHdFDrzBHq5AVmFA

Views from 2015 looking into the cut in the direction the train was traveling:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4022386,4022386#4022386
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3708311,3708311#3708311

These views show slide fencing now exists from West DoubleA through the portion of the cut where the slide occurred:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VonrxEdaQMb2eAlx19fRLHHZVjxq-XKy_plJOaNVvd7qH0Bl957BZcaOGCDfV78vUwfDWnjFYTWpu0tQ9YZIAX9GKxqxsukApPInyW_yyfyE8jyR63246iEGW7ZdTnqq63sgeoGpWD4/s1600/81710001+copy.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYdnsGKiYsGJMnUBxjTaF8_k7XV4fYoR2pzC1bs7aFD4HO4A0XM5DUWjsFHhaGy9W4zSgkwH0kJIQZ1-MS2dPWnAmO747UtfWT3S6DJxHfu4LaBFogytk2KLVcRACn8VSsDGTw17tegk/s1600/81760010+copy.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2XJZR7v7iJdHpjHS4iItuA9msGKW6dw_dKs2lXJCoLABbBp-Y1OIknLhHrhLL02osdhHw2VdmQoTJzrvbilgkn0Kyv_BxSKlh12q6A7SI64Qx3ANQ2pDVrVIozUFpWwfB_DehuSg05c/s1600/81710007+copy.jpg

That had to be a gut wrenching stop. The lead unit's trucks are sitting well ahead of the train.

 

And this no doubt must have gotten the attention of every fowl and snake nest within a few hundred yards.  Although many years after, I can't help but feel for the families and people affected by this terrible incident as well as the workers dealing with removal of the rock material and all involved in such narrow space.