I worked for Southern Pacific at the time of the incident and it was really frustrating and scary that someone could do this. As noted, overriding the track circuit indicated that whomever was responsible had some basic knowledge of how they worked.
It was the work of one person. A disgruntled Amtrak employee. either fired or past-over for a promotion. You will never find him. Most likely has passed away.
I too worked for Southern Pacific as a brakeman. Every engineer, conductor, brakeman, signal maintainer, and some others would know how to do this. A break in the rail normally puts up red signals in both directions before the break and more signals further out will be yellow giving warning that the next signal is red. So the train would stop at the signal before even getting to the break. The train stops at the red signal then proceeds at restricted speed. You proceed at no more than 20mph looking for what might cause a red signal such as a train, car, or engine on the tracks or a broken or missing rail. You would creep right up to the breakage, train, or whatever it is and stop. If the rail is broken you stay stopped for a while. A long while.
I’m an Arizona native and I vividly remember when this happened. I’ve always wanted to explore the area but have never had the chance. Thanks for taking us along. 👍🏼👍🏼
@@johnhart125 I was born 2003 and I'm European so I never had the chance to read about it lol but I still watch this channel very fun and interesting edit; this comment perhaps came out wrong now that I think about it ☠
yeah... i grew up out there... it was a weird event and there's not much out there to see but there is a lot of history out there (steve has covered some of it in past videos)... anyway, there just wasn't any clues for the investigators to follow up on... no one who lives out there had any motives or really the ability to do such a horrible act ...
I worked the extra board for Amtrak the summer of '88 out of Union Station in LA. I moved from SoCal to Utah that Fall. I was a car attendant just like the guy who died. Most of my trains went to Chicago. Once to Seattle and once this route to New Orleans. I ALWAYS worried about something like this happening. Not so much terrorism. But a derailment. Amtrak went around to the colleges to recruit. Billed it as a summer job. But once hired, they really twisted your arm to stay. I was transferring to a 4 yr school and had plans. But I know some stayed on. I didn't much like working the sleeper cars since I didn't really like being a hotel bell boy. But the open coaches were fun. Met ppl from literally everywhere. I'd already lived in Europe and spoke fluent Dutch. So it was appealing and fun. But sleeping on a 90 mph vehicle in the dark...? Was glad to finally move on. Great video. 😊
I remember authorities at the time were trying to keep passengers from wandering off from the site. The reason was fear that rattlesnakes were very prevalent in the area. Thanks for another interesting story Steve.
Your willingness to trek out there is greatly appreciated, along with your attention to details in your narrative. Seeing your hike from your vehicle makes me wonder how authorities learned of the accident and how rescue was implemented.
Back then, I slept with a constant-on scanner near my pillow. I awoke 30-40 minutes into the call. There was no scanner activity about "railroad" for at least the next half hour. The 1st on-the-scene report was from a helo out of Phoenix. Reported 12-18 "cars" on their sides or upside down. That freaked me out, as that would surely have been a state record for an automobile accident (I still hadn't heard "railroad"). The location on the scanner traffic was a not-so-nearby town (maybe Quartzsite or Gila Bend). Then various air units started giving instructions for ground unit access. Then "railroad tracks" were mentioned. For at least 30 minutes, my brain was scrambled and my heart rate was through the roof. What a flashback you just gave me, lol.
Thanks Steve I look forward to your content on a weekly basis and it never fails to a smile or a tear depending on the episode.... Thank you from Karl in Oregon
Steve, the research you put in, the script you write from that information, to the delivery and compassion of your speech, to the your background music is perfect, I don’t watch a lot of of RUclips videos all the way through, but yours are inspiring and soothing and I enjoy every minute of your work, thank you, Jack
Please don’t run out of places to discuss. I, a SoCal native, appreciate learning about the area and history-places that I’ve passed by with names that I recognize. Yet I never learned the historical background.
This video was of particular interest to me as I worked for a subsidiary of Southern Pacific Railroad, Pacific Fruit Express. The derailment happened after the subsidiary was absorbed by SPRR. I was put on permanent furlough with 4 other people after that event which made us suspects in the crime. We sued SPRR for wrongful termination and won a small settlement. Three of the people put on permanent furlough were gay and one an elderly Chinese woman. Twenty-one years after the derail I received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in Arizona. As a kindness to me it was decided to be interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco where I resided so that I did not have to travel to Arizona. After half of a day being interviewed, I was told the reason why it took a long time to be interviewed. The file that should have been used to call me in for the investigation made it's way to the bottom of the pile and not discovered until 21 years later. I was probably the last suspect interviewed in the case! It was quite an experience!
"Three of the people put on permanent furlough were gay and one an elderly Chinese woman" WOW! If you had a juw in the mix you would have had the trifecta of discrimination! lol
Steve, I’m a 60 year San Diego County native and can’t say how how much I appreciate your video tours. My wife and I have begun a list of destinations based on them. Keep up the great work. My condolences on the passing of your dad. I, fortunately, still have mine and owe him the world. Thanks, Tim H
I distinctly remember being woken up by all the helicopters that early morning then reading about the derailment on the front page of the Arizona Republic. I also remember many years later, while investigating the person of interest, the authorities searched an abandoned mine shaft somewhere in the area. At the bottom of the shaft they found a few abandoned stolen cars and a sandrail. It was speculated that the sandrail may have been connected to the person of interest and the derailment but I never hear anything of it again. Thank you for still remembering the Sunset Limited crash.
My sons and I have been there to the site two times. It is really cleaned up. There's really very little to remind you of what happened here. Thank you so much for your excellent videos!
Another excellent session. Thank you Steve. PS- as you likely are aware, in addition to the SP Historical Society magazine review of the 1939 wreck, there was a 1978 book "Tragic Train" by Don DeNevi published on the 1939 'City of San Francisco' sabotage.
I was going to try and grab a copy of that book, but it wouldn't have gotten here until early February from Amazon. I heard it's good and want to check it out.
Thank you for the great adventures you take us on. I am disabled and not able to get out of the house like I want to. You keep things interesting and it’s a greatly appreciated.👍
I use a wheelchair and I imagine myself walking in all the places he goes. I love his videos for everything about them but also seeing places I never would but get to imagine.
Fascinating, I remember this incident when it happened. I was living in SD at the time. Always wondered what became of this incident and now I know. Thanks, keep them coming.
A most interesting video, Steve, as always. The simplest answer for the aircraft joining and flying along the railroad is that railroad tracks are very useful navigational aids, as are roads and highways, especially at night and especially over the desert, where good landmark are often very scarce, and especially pre-GPS navigation. There's even a pilots joke about the practice. While IFR officially means "Instrument Flight Rules" - a method for navigating in bad visibility using radio navigation aids - the joke is that IFR stands for "I Follow Roads" or "I Follow Railroads". The desert at night, without moonlight, can be a very perilous place to fly and with out the moon one can't tell if the little lights are stars or lights on the ground.
Each week when I watch your videos I think you can't possibly come up with yet another intriguing and fascinating look at yet another aspect of the American Southwest. And each week, happily you prove me wrong, Steve! Your research, your boots-on-the-ground, your editing, and your straightforward narration are about the best on RUclips. Excellent choice of background music, as well. I look forward to your videos every week. As for who might be behind the 1995 sabotage of the rail line, you only have to follow the money, as it is likely that there was some financial gain for an ill-intentioned and criminal element.
Yikes! Rail disasters are scary. I'm just amazed only one person was killed in the Sunset Limited crash. It appears the 1930s train derailed into a much deeper gorge. Again, thank you for researching these fascinating stories and hoofing it out over (potentially) snake infested terrain. As others have said, I look forward to Wednesdays!
Great video I was there that morning of the train wreck,,,, I work out there one one of the ranches ,,, even gave the FBI the grand tour of the area for a week
Great video Steve. Equally great story about the sunset Limited. My grandfather was a railroad man so this strikes a note with me. Each video gets better and better. Your drone work is equally skilled.
Informative! Thank you for this story. I was working for Southern Pacific at Denver, Colorado in the HQ building when this occurred. The floor I was on had a few traditional type offices and a larger area of cubicles. The Safety Manager had one of the cubicles on our floor. Although my office (a cubicle) was on that floor, I was not in the Safety Department. I do recall the Safety Manager playing the recording of the Amtrak engineer notifying authorities via radio advising of the derailment and requesting medical assistance for the injured. I heard that recording a number of times. No doubt that various management people wanted to hear the recording when they came to our floor.
I've visited that bridge twice so far with the off-road club and we will get out and walk the area. It is extremely remote, but not impossible to visit. That river wash under the bridge is composed of small pebbles and isn't easy to drive on.
I remember this incident well. Its sad that afterwards train service directly into Phoenix was discontinued after this incident. My guess is that line is the only one that connects with the old station. But I could be wrong. I believe I was working for Maricopa County in their Administration Building just north of the Phoenix Amtrak station. Last November I worked for Maricopa County as a consultant in an older building on the south side of the former Amtrak station. The station is still there. Someone told me its owned by Verizon and used for servers and switching equipment. Excellent video, by the way!
A bit of trivia here, all the communication infrastructure in and near the PHX station building was once owned by Sprint, which was originally founded in the 1960's as the Southern Pacific Communications Company, using microwave communications to tie together the mainframe computer network used to track train, rolling stock and shipper information across the SP railroad network. In the 1970's the name was changed to "Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony" aka SPRINT, which began marketing the extra bandwidth for use in long distance voice communications. In fact, their original corporate colors (gray and red) came from the colors the SP used to paint their diesel locomotives. Many people don't realize that railroads such as the Southern Pacific were major players in early computer networking, along with the phone companies.
@@eastbaykidd8574 I remember Sprint. As I recall they were bought out by one of the larger telephone/cellular companies. My mother, who is now long deceased, worked for Pacific Telephone. I remember her mentioning that Southern Pacific was selling long distance service in competition with Pacific Telephone, which was owned by AT&T. This was long before SPRINT became a cell phone company, if I remember correctly.
I've heard that Amtrak intends to restore service to Phoenix on the Sunset Limited and perhaps have a Phoenix-Tucson route. Would love for this to happen 🤞
@@desertfox486 That would be great. One would hope that there would be state or federal funding to a Phoenix-Tucson train to happen. However, the Arizona Legislature and its current leadership is extremely hostile to any form of public transportation.
Hey Steve, You definitely find some unusual stories and sights. This one did not disappoint. Thank you for your work getting us to the location and the detective work needed to bring us the story. God bless you and your family.
I remember when this happened, I was just getting into the hobby of model railroading and wanted to actually get an HO scale Amtrak train, just like the Sunset Limited, that unfortunately derailed twice within two years apart. The east bound Sunset Limited derailed crossing the Big Bayou Cannot Bridge, outside of Mobile, Alabama in September 26 1993. This killed 47 or so people when the train ended up plunging into a snake and alligator infested swamp. (Today, I have about 7 Amtrak trains in HO scale, including a Sunset Limited consist all with the equal width, "Phase III" scheme and F40Ph's) These tracks out in the dessert appear to have 131 pound jointed "Stick Rail" track. I would have thought that Southern Pacific would have at least upgraded these tracks to "Ribbon Rail", or continuously welded rail track. The SP didn't install any Guard Rails on the tracks on the bridge that crosses the wash. For those that don't know, guard rails are those rails you'll often times see next to the main running rails, but on the flange side. These are placed on the tracks going across a bridge mostly and their purpose, is to help guide the wheels of derailed locomotives or cars and prevent them from falling off the tracks. These guard rails will often times be lighter weight rails than the main running rails and will be "Sperry Rails", rails that can't be used for any other purpose. (I've seen 80 pound rail rolled by Carnegie Steel from the 1880's being used as guard rails) Had both Southern Pacific and CSX installed guard rails on these bridges, these derailments would have not been so catastrophic, causing as many deaths as they did. Were you ever able to find a roll date on any of the rails or the bridge abutments? Stay safe an God bless.
Steve, great video. These mind-boggling, recent history events are absolutely my favorite. Thank you for continuing to bring us fascinating adventures! And I hope you and your family are doing well. I'm sorry to hear that your father passed on. May he rest in peace and may he be proud of the work you're doing.
he missed a huge impact that this derailment caused: it was a major reason for one of the state’s Senators being vehemently anti-passenger rail and trying to kill this route…
@@bostonrailfan2427 I wonder if the Senator was against roads due to car/truck wrecks, airplanes... Some politicians act as if they are on bad drugs...and maybe some are...
@ he was against any taxpayer money on rails, he used this and other accidents as an excuse…very few if any were caused by the train or engineers, almost always it was someone else’s fault but that didn’t matter to him and the folks in his ear and huge shocker: the ones telling him to go against trains were the Teamsters who just happen to employ truckers and are against trains as a whole
I found this wreck quite fascinating since I discovered it. I guess it was because of the story behind it, the location of the wreck site, and the fact that the line was taken out of service months later after the wreck.
I took the limited from Houston to LA in 1977. I had never seen the south west. I thought it was the most magnificent place on earth. Of course in '77 the train would have passed right over that bridge. In my case it was at night. If it was the same time of day for the passengers of the derailment, it would have been absolutely terrifying. The darkness and the remoteness. Thank you.
I was born in AZ 10 years later, had no idea this happened. Interesting piece of history. Your channel looks neat, I love strange stories from AZ! Definitely subscribing.
Bro thank you for your peaceful demeanor giving the commentary. I am always relaxed by your vids, big ups to the channel doing better and better everyday
Steve, I rarely comment on anything I view. As a San Diego Native (East County) I'm so impressed with your detail and the quality of your videos! You have brought answer to so many questions I've had about the Southwest!
Another GREAT story!! It takes a LOT of work to film and produce the video. Another "they got away with it" adventure. Sooner or later, the TRUE story will emerge. Thanks for your efforts!!
You were really out in the sticks for this one Steve! That was so remote and looking at the state of the road you made a very wise decision to abandon the car before tackling that last bit. Still left a fair hike to the bridge too. Just building that railway line through that remote area would have been a heck of a job for the workmen back in the day. Interesting story as usual and another excellent video, thanks.
@@DEG-3 was that the one where a barge collision with a support over the river caused a track misalignment? The junior tugboat operator got confused and went down the wrong fork in the river? Then, train came by in the dark. Think that was the one.
So interesting the things you find… As I’m from Northern California I never heard about this and I’m a train buff and love hearing train stories. You are amazing! :-)
I've been across the entire country (and back) 3 times on Amtrak. My first time was in 1998 on the Southwest Chief. I'm kinda glad that I never heard about this derailment a few years prior!
Ive traveled this route five times with further destinations and enjoyed every minute of it ..... its name is in the game ....the sunsets are stunning !
Years after this happened, my mom and I went there in my Jeep. All we had to go by was an article from the Arizona Republic. We found the spot by lining up with the mountains in the background of a picture in the paper. Your video brought back memories of four-wheeling on the desert around Gila Bend. Has it been that long ago? Shame they never caught who did this.
Hey Steve: It'd be helpful for us'ins who might want to follow in your very interesting footsteps and actually see the sites you highlight if you'd post GPS coordinates. That way, it'd be easier to find where you've highlighted. In any case, thankx for the great and interesting "stories" in the desert southwest.
I really enjoy your videos. Love watching your adventures out west and learning the rich history of the area. One day I will adventure of the beaten path as you do.
Now, this is one of your best videos yet! Ironically, I thought you were going to discuss the ‘39 derailment, because I had forgotten the 1995 incident. Interesting that they’re both still unsolved.
Another great story, Steve. My Dad worked passenger trains out of Chicago, and I've ridden most passenger trains between there and the West Coast. And thankfully missed derailment! I'm now watching UP trains thru the East Mojave Preserve near Kelso. Thanks again!
A mile and a half walk off an already remote and treacherous dirt road, and somehow, they've been there. We'll find graffiti on Mars when we get there, probably.
Another amazing video Steve. Thank you for all of your hard work to bring history to our screens. I had never heard of this tragedy or maybe I have just forgotten. Ahhhh. Life in your 50’s🤦🏼♂️
Good storytelling sir. I've been there but was unaware there was a wreck. Bad road. I tried to go all the way through but.....thanks for the adventure(s)!
Great forgotten story, and thank you for all the hiking you did to get to the scene ! Amazing you didn't get lost way out there, but your trusty Subaru got you there and back .. lol I love my Subaru.
@@richardsmith4187 Agreed…I love mine too, would not hesitate to drive my Outback to remote wilderness areas. After driving lesser vehicles since the early 70’s, i STILL cannot grasp why i put myself through the torture. I didn’t always have the income i have now. I for one am glad yours did you a Solid, Steve.
This bit of history, and location, are now on "the list" -- my archaeologist husband and I plan to visit the site nexttime we're in that part of Arizona. He grew up in the San Gabriel valley, and I did in El Paso, TX. We still haven't found everything wirt seeing between LA and El Paso. Yet. ;) Just a half hour of El Paso, along what was calked Montana St/Hwyvwhen I was a kid, is a State Park, Hueco Tanks. If you've never seen it, do-- you'll love it. :)
Another great and interesting video, Steve. I was living in the Reno, NV area at the time of the derailment and vaguely recall this incident being in the news. After a couple of decades of living in CA, I’m back to NV…this time in Las Vegas. Looking forward to more of your work!
Another great presentation. I’ve lived in AZ most of my life but will never get to Hyder. Hope you closed that barbed wire ranch gate! Even in winters here, cattle tend to “shade up” during the middle of the day, and ranchers freak out when hikers and ATV’ers leave fences open. Keep these great adventures coming!
I always enjoy your videos. I live south of this rail line and never knew this existed. I will venture out to check it out though. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for another interesting, yet sad tale of the modern West. I have to wonder how many sets of tires you go through in the course of a year with some of the terrain you and the family traverse. For that matter, how about your footwear? Some of the walk to get to the site really looked like a place where boots or shoes go to die! I'm a little surprised that the disuse of the rail line hasn't caused the State of Arizona or the U.S. government to tear up the rails, melt them down, and re-purpose them, and turn the rails into trails for hiking or biking. Thanks again for another edition of S.A. 👍🏻
They store rail cars on the tracks east of the site (you can see some in the distance in a drone shot) so it gets used for something. I'm on my second set of tires in the last year and a half.
One theory I've heard repeated, both as an explanation of what happened, and why the group never were heard from again, is a theory that suggests they didn't expect to derail the passenger train. Rather, it's theorized that they expected to instead derail a freight train. The way the rail was shifted out of alignment would mean that the locomotives would most likely make it across the bridge, while the cars wouldn't. Much like what happened with the Amtrak derailment. However, when word got out that they'd derailed a passenger train, and had also caused a fatality, the group panicked and went underground (figuratively speaking), dissolving their operations before they could have begun. The theory does point to disgruntled railway workers being the cause, as SP was going bankrupt at the time, and in negotiations with Union Pacific to merge. However, as a cost cutting measure, SP had began to lay off a large number of their maintenance of way crews, and this angered both the Union, and the workers.
In my 30's in 1995 and don't remember any news stories about this. Interesting the parallels between the crashes. Rather surprising that none of the guilty or their immediate family isn't greedy enough to go for the reward.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I worked for Southern Pacific at the time of the incident and it was really frustrating and scary that someone could do this.
As noted, overriding the track circuit indicated that whomever was responsible had some basic knowledge of how they worked.
There are a bunch of sick folks in this country.
It's a shame the person has never been brought to justice.
At least today there are more track inspection crews out and about
It was the work of one person. A disgruntled Amtrak employee. either fired or past-over for a promotion. You will never find him. Most likely has passed away.
I too worked for Southern Pacific as a brakeman. Every engineer, conductor, brakeman, signal maintainer, and some others would know how to do this. A break in the rail normally puts up red signals in both directions before the break and more signals further out will be yellow giving warning that the next signal is red. So the train would stop at the signal before even getting to the break. The train stops at the red signal then proceeds at restricted speed. You proceed at no more than 20mph looking for what might cause a red signal such as a train, car, or engine on the tracks or a broken or missing rail. You would creep right up to the breakage, train, or whatever it is and stop. If the rail is broken you stay stopped for a while. A long while.
I’m an Arizona native and I vividly remember when this happened. I’ve always wanted to explore the area but have never had the chance. Thanks for taking us along. 👍🏼👍🏼
Glad I was able to show it to you.
Interesting, remember reading about this but never knew was still a mystery
@@johnhart125 I was born 2003 and I'm European so I never had the chance to read about it lol but I still watch this channel very fun and interesting
edit; this comment perhaps came out wrong now that I think about it ☠
@VulpesInculta-h2b You are doing fine! No worries.
yeah... i grew up out there... it was a weird event and there's not much out there to see but there is a lot of history out there (steve has covered some of it in past videos)... anyway, there just wasn't any clues for the investigators to follow up on... no one who lives out there had any motives or really the ability to do such a horrible act ...
I worked the extra board for Amtrak the summer of '88 out of Union Station in LA. I moved from SoCal to Utah that Fall. I was a car attendant just like the guy who died. Most of my trains went to Chicago. Once to Seattle and once this route to New Orleans. I ALWAYS worried about something like this happening. Not so much terrorism. But a derailment. Amtrak went around to the colleges to recruit. Billed it as a summer job. But once hired, they really twisted your arm to stay. I was transferring to a 4 yr school and had plans. But I know some stayed on. I didn't much like working the sleeper cars since I didn't really like being a hotel bell boy. But the open coaches were fun. Met ppl from literally everywhere. I'd already lived in Europe and spoke fluent Dutch. So it was appealing and fun. But sleeping on a 90 mph vehicle in the dark...? Was glad to finally move on. Great video. 😊
I remember authorities at the time were trying to keep passengers from wandering off from the site. The reason was fear that rattlesnakes were very prevalent in the area. Thanks for another interesting story Steve.
The power was out in the train and I guess it was getting pretty hot in there, so they had to choose from the heat or possible rattlesnakes too.
@ Good point. Thanks again…
Thanks for the fill-in facts. I grew up in Westminster, CA and then ended up in PHX, AZ. These stories make my day.
Your willingness to trek out there is greatly appreciated, along with your attention to details in your narrative.
Seeing your hike from your vehicle makes me wonder how authorities learned of the accident and how rescue was implemented.
Radios.
Back then, I slept with a constant-on scanner near my pillow. I awoke 30-40 minutes into the call. There was no scanner activity about "railroad" for at least the next half hour. The 1st on-the-scene report was from a helo out of Phoenix. Reported 12-18 "cars" on their sides or upside down. That freaked me out, as that would surely have been a state record for an automobile accident (I still hadn't heard "railroad"). The location on the scanner traffic was a not-so-nearby town (maybe Quartzsite or Gila Bend). Then various air units started giving instructions for ground unit access. Then "railroad tracks" were mentioned. For at least 30 minutes, my brain was scrambled and my heart rate was through the roof. What a flashback you just gave me, lol.
Thanks Steve I look forward to your content on a weekly basis and it never fails to a smile or a tear depending on the episode....
Thank you from Karl in Oregon
Thank you from CJ in Oregon for supporting Steve's channel.
Wow, thank you. I really appreciate this.
Nice! Oregon here too!
Steve, the research you put in, the script you write from that information, to the delivery and compassion of your speech, to the your background music is perfect, I don’t watch a lot of of RUclips videos all the way through, but yours are inspiring and soothing and I enjoy every minute of your work, thank you, Jack
I am sure glad that you haven't told all the stories of the southwest yet. I love what you guys do. Thank you!
I doubt I'll ever run out of places to visit.
Please don’t run out of places to discuss. I, a SoCal native, appreciate learning about the area and history-places that I’ve passed by with names that I recognize. Yet I never learned the historical background.
@@SidetrackAdventures Have you done one yet about YPG? (Yuma Proving Grounds)
@@SidetrackAdventures How about Dead Cow Road.. between Maricopa and Gila Bend? Idk why, but I feel like there's something going on there
This video was of particular interest to me as I worked for a subsidiary of Southern Pacific Railroad, Pacific Fruit Express. The derailment happened after the subsidiary was absorbed by SPRR. I was put on permanent furlough with 4 other people after that event which made us suspects in the crime. We sued SPRR for wrongful termination and won a small settlement. Three of the people put on permanent furlough were gay and one an elderly Chinese woman.
Twenty-one years after the derail I received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in Arizona. As a kindness to me it was decided to be interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco where I resided so that I did not have to travel to Arizona. After half of a day being interviewed, I was told the reason why it took a long time to be interviewed. The file that should have been used to call me in for the investigation made it's way to the bottom of the pile and not discovered until 21 years later. I was probably the last suspect interviewed in the case! It was quite an experience!
Wow, what a story! That's pretty incredible that they basically misplaced the file. It makes you wonder what else was over looked.
"Three of the people put on permanent furlough were gay and one an elderly Chinese woman" WOW! If you had a juw in the mix you would have had the trifecta of discrimination! lol
Steve, I’m a 60 year San Diego County native and can’t say how how much I appreciate your video tours. My wife and I have begun a list of destinations based on them. Keep up the great work. My condolences on the passing of your dad. I, fortunately, still have mine and owe him the world.
Thanks, Tim H
I distinctly remember being woken up by all the helicopters that early morning then reading about the derailment on the front page of the Arizona Republic. I also remember many years later, while investigating the person of interest, the authorities searched an abandoned mine shaft somewhere in the area. At the bottom of the shaft they found a few abandoned stolen cars and a sandrail. It was speculated that the sandrail may have been connected to the person of interest and the derailment but I never hear anything of it again. Thank you for still remembering the Sunset Limited crash.
My sons and I have been there to the site two times. It is really cleaned up. There's really very little to remind you of what happened here. Thank you so much for your excellent videos!
Was the first time in 1995 ? 😮
Hi Steve I want to pass along my Prayers and Condolences at the passing of your Father....I lost my pop two years ago today....
🙏🙏
I lost my dad to cancer in 2001. It still feels like yesterday. Sending you BIG hugs.
Another excellent session. Thank you Steve. PS- as you likely are aware, in addition to the SP Historical Society magazine review of the 1939 wreck, there was a 1978 book "Tragic Train" by Don DeNevi published on the 1939 'City of San Francisco' sabotage.
I was going to try and grab a copy of that book, but it wouldn't have gotten here until early February from Amazon. I heard it's good and want to check it out.
I love your channel !
I look forward to it every week. ❤
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that.
One of the main reason that tracks are continuously welded as much as possible. Great video!
After the way they handled the "reward" for Luigi; I'll be surprised if anyone ever comes forward for this one.
Thank you for the great adventures you take us on. I am disabled and not able to get out of the house like I want to. You keep things interesting and it’s a greatly appreciated.👍
I use a wheelchair and I imagine myself walking in all the places he goes. I love his videos for everything about them but also seeing places I never would but get to imagine.
Fascinating, I remember this incident when it happened. I was living in SD at the time. Always wondered what became of this incident and now I know. Thanks, keep them coming.
A most interesting video, Steve, as always. The simplest answer for the aircraft joining and flying along the railroad is that railroad tracks are very useful navigational aids, as are roads and highways, especially at night and especially over the desert, where good landmark are often very scarce, and especially pre-GPS navigation. There's even a pilots joke about the practice. While IFR officially means "Instrument Flight Rules" - a method for navigating in bad visibility using radio navigation aids - the joke is that IFR stands for "I Follow Roads" or "I Follow Railroads". The desert at night, without moonlight, can be a very perilous place to fly and with out the moon one can't tell if the little lights are stars or lights on the ground.
Each week when I watch your videos I think you can't possibly come up with yet another intriguing and fascinating look at yet another aspect of the American Southwest. And each week, happily you prove me wrong, Steve! Your research, your boots-on-the-ground, your editing, and your straightforward narration are about the best on RUclips. Excellent choice of background music, as well. I look forward to your videos every week. As for who might be behind the 1995 sabotage of the rail line, you only have to follow the money, as it is likely that there was some financial gain for an ill-intentioned and criminal element.
Yikes! Rail disasters are scary. I'm just amazed only one person was killed in the Sunset Limited crash. It appears the 1930s train derailed into a much deeper gorge. Again, thank you for researching these fascinating stories and hoofing it out over (potentially) snake infested terrain. As others have said, I look forward to Wednesdays!
Great video I was there that morning of the train wreck,,,, I work out there one one of the ranches ,,, even gave the FBI the grand tour of the area for a week
In 1995 a story about the 1939 wreck inspired someone to copycat the crime. Now in 2025 Steve does a story about the 1995 wreck. (cue creepy music)
Yeah, the thought of that occurred to me as well! Lets hope that the viewers here are not that crazy.
Great video Steve. Equally great story about the sunset Limited. My grandfather was a railroad man so this strikes a note with me. Each video gets better and better. Your drone work is equally skilled.
Excellent reporting, your channel never disappoints.
Informative! Thank you for this story. I was working for Southern Pacific at Denver, Colorado in the HQ building when this occurred. The floor I was on had a few traditional type offices and a larger area of cubicles. The Safety Manager had one of the cubicles on our floor. Although my office (a cubicle) was on that floor, I was not in the Safety Department. I do recall the Safety Manager playing the recording of the Amtrak engineer notifying authorities via radio advising of the derailment and requesting medical assistance for the injured. I heard that recording a number of times. No doubt that various management people wanted to hear the recording when they came to our floor.
I have ridden the Sunset Limited quite often, and have never heard of this!!! Great video!!!
I've visited that bridge twice so far with the off-road club and we will get out and walk the area. It is extremely remote, but not impossible to visit. That river wash under the bridge is composed of small pebbles and isn't easy to drive on.
I remember this incident well. Its sad that afterwards train service directly into Phoenix was discontinued after this incident. My guess is that line is the only one that connects with the old station. But I could be wrong. I believe I was working for Maricopa County in their Administration Building just north of the Phoenix Amtrak station. Last November I worked for Maricopa County as a consultant in an older building on the south side of the former Amtrak station. The station is still there. Someone told me its owned by Verizon and used for servers and switching equipment. Excellent video, by the way!
A bit of trivia here, all the communication infrastructure in and near the PHX station building was once owned by Sprint, which was originally founded in the 1960's as the Southern Pacific Communications Company, using microwave communications to tie together the mainframe computer network used to track train, rolling stock and shipper information across the SP railroad network. In the 1970's the name was changed to "Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony" aka SPRINT, which began marketing the extra bandwidth for use in long distance voice communications. In fact, their original corporate colors (gray and red) came from the colors the SP used to paint their diesel locomotives. Many people don't realize that railroads such as the Southern Pacific were major players in early computer networking, along with the phone companies.
@@eastbaykidd8574 I remember Sprint. As I recall they were bought out by one of the larger telephone/cellular companies. My mother, who is now long deceased, worked for Pacific Telephone. I remember her mentioning that Southern Pacific was selling long distance service in competition with Pacific Telephone, which was owned by AT&T. This was long before SPRINT became a cell phone company, if I remember correctly.
I've heard that Amtrak intends to restore service to Phoenix on the Sunset Limited and perhaps have a Phoenix-Tucson route. Would love for this to happen 🤞
no its an event venu now
@@desertfox486 That would be great. One would hope that there would be state or federal funding to a Phoenix-Tucson train to happen. However, the Arizona Legislature and its current leadership is extremely hostile to any form of public transportation.
Hey Steve,
You definitely find some unusual stories and sights. This one did not disappoint. Thank you for your work getting us to the location and the detective work needed to bring us the story. God bless you and your family.
I remember when this happened, I was just getting into the hobby of model railroading and wanted to actually get an HO scale Amtrak train, just like the Sunset Limited, that unfortunately derailed twice within two years apart. The east bound Sunset Limited derailed crossing the Big Bayou Cannot Bridge, outside of Mobile, Alabama in September 26 1993. This killed 47 or so people when the train ended up plunging into a snake and alligator infested swamp. (Today, I have about 7 Amtrak trains in HO scale, including a Sunset Limited consist all with the equal width, "Phase III" scheme and F40Ph's) These tracks out in the dessert appear to have 131 pound jointed "Stick Rail" track. I would have thought that Southern Pacific would have at least upgraded these tracks to "Ribbon Rail", or continuously welded rail track. The SP didn't install any Guard Rails on the tracks on the bridge that crosses the wash. For those that don't know, guard rails are those rails you'll often times see next to the main running rails, but on the flange side. These are placed on the tracks going across a bridge mostly and their purpose, is to help guide the wheels of derailed locomotives or cars and prevent them from falling off the tracks. These guard rails will often times be lighter weight rails than the main running rails and will be "Sperry Rails", rails that can't be used for any other purpose. (I've seen 80 pound rail rolled by Carnegie Steel from the 1880's being used as guard rails) Had both Southern Pacific and CSX installed guard rails on these bridges, these derailments would have not been so catastrophic, causing as many deaths as they did. Were you ever able to find a roll date on any of the rails or the bridge abutments? Stay safe an God bless.
Steve, great video. These mind-boggling, recent history events are absolutely my favorite. Thank you for continuing to bring us fascinating adventures!
And I hope you and your family are doing well. I'm sorry to hear that your father passed on. May he rest in peace and may he be proud of the work you're doing.
Awesome, as always! Thanks Steve!
Thought I was a bit of a train guy but...learning new stuff on a Wednesday! Thanks and well done!
Yep, we railfans are always learning...
he missed a huge impact that this derailment caused: it was a major reason for one of the state’s Senators being vehemently anti-passenger rail and trying to kill this route…
@@bostonrailfan2427 I wonder if the Senator was against roads due to car/truck wrecks, airplanes... Some politicians act as if they are on bad drugs...and maybe some are...
@ he was against any taxpayer money on rails, he used this and other accidents as an excuse…very few if any were caused by the train or engineers, almost always it was someone else’s fault but that didn’t matter to him and the folks in his ear
and huge shocker: the ones telling him to go against trains were the Teamsters who just happen to employ truckers and are against trains as a whole
@@bostonrailfan2427 Going out on a limb here...a Dem?
I found this wreck quite fascinating since I discovered it. I guess it was because of the story behind it, the location of the wreck site, and the fact that the line was taken out of service months later after the wreck.
Inside job?
Yeah, it is way out there. I imagine this section of the track was far more scenic than where it runs now though, near the interstate.
@@citxsd70m-2 Considering the monetary loss of that investment, turning the line out of service had to be a battle in the boardroom! Stunning.
I took the limited from Houston to LA in 1977. I had never seen the south west. I thought it was the most magnificent place on earth. Of course in '77 the train would have passed right over that bridge. In my case it was at night. If it was the same time of day for the passengers of the derailment, it would have been absolutely terrifying. The darkness and the remoteness. Thank you.
I can't even imagine being asleep in bed and this happening. Terrifying for sure.
I was born in AZ 10 years later, had no idea this happened. Interesting piece of history. Your channel looks neat, I love strange stories from AZ! Definitely subscribing.
Bro thank you for your peaceful demeanor giving the commentary. I am always relaxed by your vids, big ups to the channel doing better and better everyday
Steve, I rarely comment on anything I view. As a San Diego Native (East County) I'm so impressed with your detail and the quality of your videos! You have brought answer to so many questions I've had about the Southwest!
Another GREAT story!! It takes a LOT of work to film and produce the video. Another "they got away with it" adventure. Sooner or later, the TRUE story will emerge. Thanks for your efforts!!
Not necessarily.
I always love desert scenes. They're so relaxing but its a shame of this bad trajedy. Thanks for your interesting presentations!
You were really out in the sticks for this one Steve! That was so remote and looking at the state of the road you made a very wise decision to abandon the car before tackling that last bit. Still left a fair hike to the bridge too. Just building that railway line through that remote area would have been a heck of a job for the workmen back in the day. Interesting story as usual and another excellent video, thanks.
In 1993 the Sunset Limited derailed off of a bridge into a bayou near Mobile, AL killing 47 people.
@@DEG-3 was that the one where a barge collision with a support over the river caused a track misalignment? The junior tugboat operator got confused and went down the wrong fork in the river? Then, train came by in the dark. Think that was the one.
@@roycehack2766it has been awhile since I read/watched anything about it but from my recollection, yeah, you have it right.
@@roycehack2766That’s the one.
So interesting the things you find… As I’m from Northern California I never heard about this and I’m a train buff and love hearing train stories. You are amazing! :-)
Thanks again Steve. Oftentimes you have to put forth a lot of effort to bring us theae informative viseos.
I've been across the entire country (and back) 3 times on Amtrak. My first time was in 1998 on the Southwest Chief. I'm kinda glad that I never heard about this derailment a few years prior!
@@JA679e55 Knowing it was likely a staged event, the reliability of the rails remains quite high. Why was the track speed excessive?
I hopped that train from Texas to Tucson back in '88. It was a lovely train ride.
Ive traveled this route five times with further destinations and enjoyed every minute of it ..... its name is in the game ....the sunsets are stunning !
Years after this happened, my mom and I went there in my Jeep. All we had to go by was an article from the Arizona Republic. We found the spot by lining up with the mountains in the background of a picture in the paper. Your video brought back memories of four-wheeling on the desert around Gila Bend. Has it been that long ago? Shame they never caught who did this.
Fantastic job Steve (as usual) & a fascinating story. I particularly enjoy your low-key humor 😊
Really found this interesting. You're a great storyteller. I look forwards to your posts!
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm always looking for good stories to share.
Always great storytelling, Steve! Mahalo as usual
Hey Steve: It'd be helpful for us'ins who might want to follow in your very interesting footsteps and actually see the sites you highlight if you'd post GPS coordinates. That way, it'd be easier to find where you've highlighted. In any case, thankx for the great and interesting "stories" in the desert southwest.
The GPS is in the description. Sometimes I don't list it if the place is just listed on Google Maps, but I did include it this week.
Thanks again, Steve, for taking the time and effort to put these videos together
I love "The Thing" T-Shirt. You've spent a dangerous amount of time on I-10!
I really enjoy your videos. Love watching your adventures out west and learning the rich history of the area. One day I will adventure of the beaten path as you do.
Another great story and adventure. Love “The Thing” T-shirt your sporting. You must of bought it during your tour of all the Bollin stores.
Thanks!
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
You do such a good job of walking us through this. Thanks Steve
Now, this is one of your best videos yet! Ironically, I thought you were going to discuss the ‘39 derailment, because I had forgotten the 1995 incident. Interesting that they’re both still unsolved.
Thanks. I haven't been out to the '39 site. I wonder if there is any marker for it.
Great video!!!! I love these kinds of stories, and if I solve it, you will get a HUGE cut!!!!!
Thanks. I'll spend it wisely!
@@SidetrackAdventures I respectfully disagree. You'll just waste it researching more events and producing interesting videos for us history nerds!
Another great story, Steve. My Dad worked passenger trains out of Chicago, and I've ridden most passenger trains between there and the West Coast. And thankfully missed derailment!
I'm now watching UP trains thru the East Mojave Preserve near Kelso. Thanks again!
Thanks mate, really appreciate you doing the hike. The history is fascinating, we've read about these events but never seen the on the ground reality
Another marvelous video! I look forward to them every week. Thank you so much for taking us along with you.
Thanks again, Steve, for another great story.
Always enjoy your videos. Interesting, how remote but yet the Taggers have been busy.
hahaha..my thoughts too 😎
Vandals is the preferred word, I believe. Surprising, yet mostly disgusting. ಠಿ_ಠ
Yeah, they are the true explorers of our time. They've seemingly been everywhere.
@@SidetrackAdventures They are descendants of the rock carvers!
A mile and a half walk off an already remote and treacherous dirt road, and somehow, they've been there. We'll find graffiti on Mars when we get there, probably.
good use of the driving footage to do the background voiceover, the twists and turns of the road align well with the stories
Great adventure - thanks!
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
Excellent video! Well edited, good shot by shots of the past and present.
You are quite the hiker Steve! I'm recovering from a back injury. Thanks for taking me along! 😌
Steve, another great video which shows your attention to detail and your research ability.
I agree with you Steve. Probable a disgruntled past employee. Thanks for the adventure!
Love these videos. They are becoming quite the lunchtime habit!
I too, remember this incident, it was national news. I did not realise that they never discovered the perpetrators or a reason for it!
Great job Steve, how you find all these locations is beyond me Bro. 👍🏻👍🏻
Best one yet! Please keep making these!
Another amazing video Steve. Thank you for all of your hard work to bring history to our screens. I had never heard of this tragedy or maybe I have just forgotten. Ahhhh. Life in your 50’s🤦🏼♂️
I’m surprised I never heard of this because I like desert history. That was a really intriguing story
Thanks again steve!! I appreciate all your videos.If possible try to do a segment about the old sp railroad along the 8 by yuma to casa grande
Good storytelling sir. I've been there but was unaware there was a wreck. Bad road. I tried to go all the way through but.....thanks for the adventure(s)!
Archie Moreno went out there on his homemade rail cart and did a YT video on it.
another great and informative video...the question is who benefitted from this...
Fascinating story. It's sad to think that a single act such as this takes the lives of so many innocent people.
Great forgotten story, and thank you for all the hiking you did to get to the scene ! Amazing you didn't get lost way out there, but your trusty Subaru got you there and back .. lol I love my Subaru.
@@richardsmith4187 Agreed…I love mine too, would not hesitate to drive my Outback to remote wilderness areas. After driving lesser vehicles since the early 70’s, i STILL cannot grasp why i put myself through the torture. I didn’t always have the income i have now. I for one am glad yours did you a Solid, Steve.
These Subaru's get the job done for sure.
This bit of history, and location, are now on "the list" -- my archaeologist husband and I plan to visit the site nexttime we're in that part of Arizona. He grew up in the San Gabriel valley, and I did in El Paso, TX. We still haven't found everything wirt seeing between LA and El Paso. Yet. ;)
Just a half hour of El Paso, along what was calked Montana St/Hwyvwhen I was a kid, is a State Park, Hueco Tanks. If you've never seen it, do-- you'll love it. :)
Another great and interesting video, Steve. I was living in the Reno, NV area at the time of the derailment and vaguely recall this incident being in the news. After a couple of decades of living in CA, I’m back to NV…this time in Las Vegas. Looking forward to more of your work!
Another great presentation. I’ve lived in AZ most of my life but will never get to Hyder. Hope you closed that barbed wire ranch gate! Even in winters here, cattle tend to “shade up” during the middle of the day, and ranchers freak out when hikers and ATV’ers leave fences open. Keep these great adventures coming!
You do a great job with these features, Steve. Thanks,!
Thanks for the information, Steve. Always enjoy watching your channel and videos. Keep 'em coming!
You do the best local videos out there. Thanks.
I always enjoy your videos. I live south of this rail line and never knew this existed. I will venture out to check it out though. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for another interesting, yet sad tale of the modern West. I have to wonder how many sets of tires you go through in the course of a year with some of the terrain you and the family traverse. For that matter, how about your footwear? Some of the walk to get to the site really looked like a place where boots or shoes go to die! I'm a little surprised that the disuse of the rail line hasn't caused the State of Arizona or the U.S. government to tear up the rails, melt them down, and re-purpose them, and turn the rails into trails for hiking or biking. Thanks again for another edition of S.A. 👍🏻
They store rail cars on the tracks east of the site (you can see some in the distance in a drone shot) so it gets used for something. I'm on my second set of tires in the last year and a half.
Another great video! LOVE the content, Steve. The history in this area is so fascinating.
Another gem Steve, I especially like the unsolved, unexplainable, mysterious, conspiracy type adventures! 🤔🤫🫣🙏👍
One theory I've heard repeated, both as an explanation of what happened, and why the group never were heard from again, is a theory that suggests they didn't expect to derail the passenger train. Rather, it's theorized that they expected to instead derail a freight train. The way the rail was shifted out of alignment would mean that the locomotives would most likely make it across the bridge, while the cars wouldn't. Much like what happened with the Amtrak derailment. However, when word got out that they'd derailed a passenger train, and had also caused a fatality, the group panicked and went underground (figuratively speaking), dissolving their operations before they could have begun. The theory does point to disgruntled railway workers being the cause, as SP was going bankrupt at the time, and in negotiations with Union Pacific to merge. However, as a cost cutting measure, SP had began to lay off a large number of their maintenance of way crews, and this angered both the Union, and the workers.
3:55 Great observation and drone work, Steve! Also love that T-shirt! Terrific episode! 😎✌️
"The ThiNG?" Off Highway 10
Thank you. As always, a very interesting video. I don't remember reading about this at all.
In my 30's in 1995 and don't remember any news stories about this. Interesting the parallels between the crashes.
Rather surprising that none of the guilty or their immediate family isn't greedy enough to go for the reward.
Nice job sir, more reason to get the quads out and visit myself. Weird case. You did excellent research, you uncovered many things I didn't know.
When running motor vehicles off road, please be respectful of the wildlife and terrain. "Thank you" in advance. Enjoy without damage.