Passenger Trains > Missouri River Runner struck by boulder

https://www.kmov.com/news/train-from-st-louis-to-kansas-city-hit-by-boulder/article_4a4e8e1c-39a6-11ea-b642-df2de325cef9.html?fbclid=IwAR2eM0Rc_ddEhTcEBvaXLsXp6N2saPDtvR2Ay4gwscUiHMv7GXJAZxGfhik

Freak accident... a boulder fell onto the end of a coach car, causing significant damage on the inside.  Lucky nobody got hurt.  They decided to tow the train with passengers back to St. Louis, and did not provide alternate transportation.  Customer service nightmare according to Twitter users.

 

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Luck they have a sturdy luggage rack and that nobody was in the bathroom. 
That is the end of that Horizon car. 

This why my Dad always told be its dangerous to throw rocks at trains.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

If it were a Budd car with the fluted stainless steel, I wonder if it would have been less likely to have been penetrated. 

In 1997, I was on the Pioneer in its last season of operation.  An hour or so north of Ogden, a boulder rolled from a canyon wall and struck the door of the baggage car, penetrating it and coming to rest inside on the floor.  It came to rest inside the car and could not be budged.  The crew managed to open the wrecked baggage car door and left it open for the rest of the trip.  Passengers who wanted a look could plainly see it where it lay.

If you can tow the train 60 miles back to St. Louis, why did they simply go forward and finish the 220 miles to KCMO??    And assuming the car is road worthy, they could have reseated the passengers in other coaches.  

Sounds like poor judgment on the part of the conductor.  

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you can tow the train 60 miles back to St.
> Louis, why did they simply go forward and finish
> the 220 miles to KCMO??    And assuming the car
> is road worthy, they could have reseated the
> passengers in other coaches.  
>
> Sounds like poor judgment on the part of the
> conductor.  


Even the next stop at Jefferson City would have been a better idea.

Note to digress, butt... Has anyone ridden in BC on the River Runners? Are they Horizon cars? Is it 2/2 or 2/1seatimg? Is it on the rear or head end?

MEKoch
> Sounds like poor judgment on the part of the
> conductor.  

The conductor? How about CNOC! (Consolidated National Operations Center, Wilmington, DE)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/20 17:51 by SandHouseTalk.

djm448 Wrote:
> Even the next stop at Jefferson City would have
> been a better idea.
Yep, I was the volunteer at Jefferson City last night. 313 was stopped about MP 115, less than 10 miles from us.  Story is 313 backed up to Ames Junction at MP 102 and coupled up with 316. 
Made no sense to me but maybe I don't know all the details.

Steve

To whomever asked about the business class, it’s in an Amcafe “amfleet” car.
And... for the record — dayum!! Didn’t see that coming and I worked those trains back in the 80’s, too!!!!

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you can tow the train 60 miles back to St.
> Louis, why did they simply go forward and finish
> the 220 miles to KCMO??    And assuming the car
> is road worthy, they could have reseated the
> passengers in other coaches.  
>



State of the union today. Someone might of sued. Or threatened to sue. So everyone on board gets screwed just a bit.

If they had the old diner coupled up against the business class car, then possibly they could have accommodated some of the passengers in there and just blocked off the damaged car.  Unfortunately, there was one of the old baggage cars in between.  I'm not sure of the construction of the horizon cars, but the HEP lines must run along the roof line, and that is possibly where the problem was.  Saturday was another disaster for the River Runners as well, with a broke down UP freight causing big delays for 316 and 313!  Dayum again!

Definitely a bit of a "rocky" trip...

steveb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> djm448 Wrote:
> > Even the next stop at Jefferson City would have
> > been a better idea.
> Yep, I was the volunteer at Jefferson City last
> night. 313 was stopped about MP 115, less than 10
> miles from us.  Story is 313 backed up to Ames
> Junction at MP 102 and coupled up with 316. 
> Made no sense to me but maybe I don't know all
> the details.
>
> Steve

With a situation like this it was almost certainly out of the Conductors hands. Would have been either CNOC or the Trainmaster/RFE in St. Louis or a combination of.