The Worst Avalanche Disaster in U.S. History - What It Looks Like Now
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- Опубликовано: 24 дек 2020
- Wellington, Washington is home to the worst avalanche disaster in U.S. history. In 1910, a massive avalanche struck two trains sitting side by side and pushed them down into the ravine below, killing 96 people.
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#trainwrecks #avalanche #wellingtonwashington
Merry Christmas to everyone. Check out Harmon's channel and say hi - ruclips.net/user/InfamousCrimeLocations
Merry Christmas from London UK 🇬🇧
Merry Christmas from PA!!
Merry Christmas to you both!!!
Happy Christmas, that's for your videos!!!!!! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
You think places like this are haunted? Ever get that vibe walking around?
I was saved by a snow shed on the Trans Canada Highway between Revelstoke and Glacier National Park. An avalanche happened while in the shed/tunnel. The highway crews came and dug out the ends of the shed for us to continue on the highway. It was an experience I won't forget. Thank goodness for the snow shed. :-)
Amazing encounter! When was that and how old were you?
@@greensteve9307 It was in 2011, just before my 47th birthday.
(Me, born/raised and still resident of FL)
What's a snow shed? Purpose?
I am assuming as a shelter for these delayed trains?
@@OriginalGlorfindel Protects vehicles from avalanches. Put in areas of high risk avalanche mountain zones.
Also there are rockfall barriers to prevent rocks from striking vehicles. They look like a giant chain link fence bolted to the cliff side.
@@OriginalGlorfindel the sheds were built AFTER the avalanche
Another factor that contributed to the severity of this tragedy was a forest fire during the previous year that cleared the mountain above Wellington of any trees, resulting in a bare hillside with absolutely nothing to restrict the snowslide before it blasted through the station.
Also of note: not too far to the north of Wellington, across the Canadian border in B.C., there was another avalanche that occurred 3 days later on Roger's Pass, which killed 62 Canadian Pacific Railway workers.
It was the following July before the last body was recovered. There's a very good book about it called "The White Cascade." A great read.
There's another book titled Vis Major by Martin Burwash, and there's another old fellow by the name of Kevin Weiderstrom who lives in Skykomish ( west end of the GN electrification) he has lots of knowledge on the avalanche disaster.
Years ago, when I lived in Snohomish County, Washington State, our neighbor was a retired railroad man who was part of the rescue team that went up to Wellington to help with body recovery and salvage. He had many pictures that were taken at the scene and he told me of the sad work that went into the recovery efforts. I believe I was 13 or 14 years old when he made me aware of the tragedy.
RUclips is 20 times better than any history class I've ever attended....
Must be a millennial.
Sad
Being a teacher for 22+ years the history taught is dictated for each grade, how long the subject (if even included) is covered. Read the book, The Lies My History Teacher Taught Me... BTW...my youngest brother is an actual history teacher and is the head of the historical society and history of our city.
Don't give RUclips the credit
@Gallant Zodiac history classes kinda sucked. I'm friends with one of my old history teachers and kinda got in an argument with them about how well the schools teach history. I had to remind them they played the movie Pearl Harbor in class then skipped the entire war and went right into Nuremberg and they didn't really cover that all that well.
The long thick walled cylinders are air resevoirs for the braking system on the railcars.
And all that long piping wrapped around the tree(s) was where the water heated up in the boiler
Hey u beat me to it. I see some heavy duty clamps too
after seeing 20:05 I came to the comments for confirmation that it would be a braking reservoir instead of a boiler, nice work well done!
Can you imagine the loudness associated with that avalanche as the town, trains and trees were moved?! The power of nature cannot be denied!
Nothing is permanent this side of eternity!
Beautiful work, as usual, Chris! Thank you
I do appreciate how respectful you are of these places where people have died. Very interesting to come along with you on this journey.
U beautiful
Kat I agree
This is a very somber record of a horrible disaster which few people today are even aware of. Truly one amazing documentary not only of the avalanche and the carnage it caused, but is also a very respectful memorial of the lives lost. Also this is a great tribute to those people who designed, worked, and accomplished building such engineering feats through some of the most rugged mountains in America. Thank You for making this video and sharing with us!
The amount of water that comes down that mountain side is insane
There is a phenomenon call "Thunder snow" in which you hear thunder during a snowstorm. However, I wonder if the 'thunder' folks heard was actually the roar of the avalanche moving down the mountain. I've never witnessed an avalanche, but I imagine there's a loud rumble with all that fast moving snow.
There's great videos on YT of avalanches and snow falling off moutians. It kinda sounds like thunder...
I live in R.I. and I have witnessed thunder during one of our nor'Easter snow storms
No, as I said earlier, the thunderstorm preceded the avalanche, which sounded completely different. John Wentzel, a GN section worker who had been staying at the Bailets Hotel, was awakened by the thunder and on hearing this "other sound" (an ominous rumble combined with the sounds of snapping tree trunks), rushed out just in time to see, between lightning flashes, the snow come down the mountainside and engulf the trains - "...and then there was neither tracks nor trains." Wentzel was the only person to actually see the avalanche as it happened.
@@echopine8974 thats usually intentional sound to create avalanches
Most of the early snowsheds were made from timber. This was quite a monumental piece of engineering. Every bit of that steel and concrete had to be hauled up the mountain.
yeah, and it's still standing to this day, shows you what they were capable of
Correct. Thanks for pointing the obvious
No heavy machinery and OSHA,lots died on jobs back then,but they were tough people back in the day...
Your channel presents a great opportunity for history teachers in our elementary and high schools to show this living history to our school age children. I hope there are some out there who are taking advantage of this. Us eastern US folks cannot understand the height of those mountains like the Cascades. It took a special breed of hard working people to build and maintain a railroad such as the Great Northern, Milwaukee Road and others who had to deal with the western continental divide, from Wyoming all the way up to the great mountains in Idaho, Montana and Washington state. Much respect for what you do. Merry Christmas!
The thunder people heard could have been the sound of the snow letting go.
That's what I was thinking. They say it does sound like thunder. But it's pretty awesome to think it was let go from a thunder clap. Still very plausible in a snow storm like they were having that day.
Yeah. Ive lived in oregon cascades and i have never heard thunder during winter.
@@radrcer Called thundersnow. We get it alot during intense snowstorms of rates of 3"-4" of snow per hour in the East.
No, the thunderstorm, a real rarity for the High Cascades at that time of year, began sometime in the early morning hours and was noticed by a great many people before the avalanche came down. They heard one thunderclap that was much louder than the rest, followed by the sound of the avalanche, which came as an unearthly continuous low rumble, completely different from the sound of the thunder.
@@whhrms Yes. Apparently the temperature rose 30°F over that last night. When snow is that saturated it's the same as cement. Apparently a lot of the bodies were found in sitting and standing positions, frozen as they were in life.
I know I've said it before, but I love this channel. I could listen to you talk for hours. No teleprompters, no notes; you remember all the little details. This was such a tragic event for everyone involved. Thanks for taking time out today to post for us.
I agree 👍 very good video
This snow shed is unlike any we've seen around these places...interesting...god- the Country in Washington is absolutely breath taking...isn't it!? So Very Beautiful - appreciate your taking us along again! :)
It's a very beautiful area for sure
Bigfoot County 👍🏻
It's so interesting to see this kind of historical places where people once lived and worked. Even if there's not so much left of it, you can still see some old buildings/railroads/roads. Just love it😍.
Harmin is a good dude, we have explored together. Glad to see y'all hang out!
Yeah he said he knew you!
You need to go on the ss Selma in Galveston I seen it and it looks old it was an oiler that crashed it was made out of block or something like that I wanted to go on it but I'm scared
Hey good to see you here too
Bigfoot county
I'd never heard of this but you were spot on about the carbon monoxide being a problem in the tunnel. They obviously knew the risk of avalanche but rescue unfortunately just came too late.
You are definitely a very respectful person on all of your videos. You not only respect the people that may have died in different areas, you are also respectful of the history of old places and things. That's one of the reason I enjoy all of your videos. That and the fact you always try to include old photos to go along with the area and you include a lot of history of the places you show us.
Hello my name is Ricardo Mr I'm from Tacoma u.s air force awesome dude way go out breaking news kiro news about it
You are the first and only youtuber I have ever seen explore up to the cave in, very neat!
AWSOME
I live less than 2 hours away from Wellington and never even knew about this. I am going to go visit. Thank you teaching me about some of Washington history.
Crazy to see very little trees in the before pics compared to present day. Now it's all woods.
I think the "clap of thunder" that people heard was actually the ground breaking free. Avalanches are very loud and you are going to hear them before you see the debris and stuff coming at you.
You’re absolutely amazing Chris. Never heard of this mind boggling episode in history. Thank you! For everything you’ve done and continue to do. The commitment and passion you have is tremendous 🙏🏻💙🌟
I really admire the the way you bring history to life. I always place myself into the film and imagine how it used to be. Your added original photos were great for this. Such sadness. I also appreciate the respect you show. Thank you for another great video.
I've lived in Washington all my life and finally did the hike last summer with the guide book to help find all the sites, I did a report on the accident in school and being able to finally visit it was incredible, as well as climbing down into the ravine.
Very informative but what shines through is your reverence and respect for the victims and the history which speaks volumes about your character.
A fantastic and sobering journey. A great documentary. You should be on TV.
The town was renamed after the avalanche, however when the new tunnel that travels under stevens pass was opened the town died
Yep, "Tye". I've been up there a couple times.
What was the new town name? Does it still exist at all? Where was it? Near Hwy 20? Hwy 2? I-90?
Great video. I know it’s more work when you add pictures from what the places looked like before but it’s very much appreciated.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas.
Thank you for sharing this with us as I have never heard of this disaster. Merry Christmas to you!
Awesome find. This is why i like being in the woods, there is so much history somewhat lost out there waiting to be explored. Thanks for the adventure 😃
18:32 There was a time when photographers would explain a pre-avalanche town as unmolested.
Must have been before Joe Biden!! Lol
This reminds me of the Frank Slide in Southern Alberta, Canada, That the mountain collapsed covering the town of Frank and a train just pulled in.
Just found your channel, wanted to say thank you for doing this! It is great to learn about the past! Your tour of the area was great! Thanks again!
Sad that the tunnel had collapsed--I walked thru the whole thing in 1983. There is a very slight bend, and suddenly one can "see the light at the end of the tunnel"! But the exit is still a mile away-
-why the line lol-
Very cool! I’m a locomotive engineer and conductor. I think that wire on top of the shed is part of a slide detector. We have wires like that in the mountains of Colorado. When a rock slide hits them, it sends a signal to signaling system which tells us to go at restricted speed. I’m thinking that one might give them a clue if a new avalanche happened, they can approach the shed at restricted speed in case the entrances and exits were blocked. Could be wrong tho, just an idea.
Are you qualified to do both jobs or do you do both jobs?
@@KushMaster5 WHAT?? Where was the power plant?
This was such a terrible tragedy but so very well presented. My husband and myself both read the book and it was as if you took us back to exactly where and when it happened. Seeing the carnage still left there and your face on finding it and how it affected you was unbelievable. Loved how you explained everything and showed pictures from when it happened. Thank you for a great presentation into the past that so many people didn’t know about. Keep up the excellent work.
Dale & Fred
I just went here yesterday with my friend, and there were two avalanches that just happened days before. That place cant catch a break. Train debris is still there. Still a gorgeous place.
Where is it? What's the nearest town? I live in Western Washington, I'd like to see it.
@@pookysdad4884 once you hit Monroe Wa, take Highway 2 towards Goldbar and Index, then its about a 40 to 50 mile drive then its going to be on the left hand side of the road and its got two entrances. There are signs, but still very easy to miss so keep your eyes open.
This one might be my favorite of all of your channel so far! The Johnstown PA one was awesome to me because one of my sisters lives in Pittsburgh. Thank you so much for the fantastic content!!!
Thank-you for taking me along. What a sad and tragic event. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I love your videos.
Great historical event, learn something new all the time. I can only imagine how scared those poor people were, so tragic. A shout out Harmon. Thank you both for the video. See you down the road.
Very sad 😞🙏
Merry Christmas! What a video and paying your respect to those who lost there lives.
Expertly done. Truly enjoy these ventures - less talk, great visuals. You take us on the journey with you. Looking for more!
Does anyone else feel anxiety whenever Chris walks into an abandoned tunnel?
Your videos are so well done I can't believe your not at a million subs. We need to get the word out. I learn something almost every time I watch. Merry Christmas!
It amazes me that snow can be that heavy to be able to push 2 trains off a cliff that easy.... Love the content you have a life long follower of your channel keep up the good work brother... How do you find these places and the history behind them?
That’s insane!! Thanks for showing us. Merry Christmas!
Back in the early 90’s my dad would take us for fall hikes through the cascade tunnel. My favorite spring hike, before the trail is maintained is the iron goat. Such a great area and history. You should read “the white cascade”.
There's definitely an eerie vibe on the iron goat. I've heard of lots of paranormal reports, although I've never experienced any myself
I was driving, four wheeling, hiking and camping in the southern Colorado Rockies a few summers ago. It was after their biggest snowfall winter in recent history. There was still lots of snow in late July. I saw numerous massive avalanche zones 2000-4000 feet vertical where the entire mountainside was stripped clean of trees and rock. The piles of debris and logs at the bottom were the size of a shopping mall and formed a number of dams in the creeks.
Very impressive! I felt rather small in my 'big' tired truck!
Very interesting! I love stuff like this! Thanks for sharing! I just found you and subscribed! Keep up the great work! Pat
Favorite RUclipsr, love when I get the notifications...great vids, merry Christmas, stay safe..wondering what do you travel around in?
Fascinating video, thank you for the Christmas day treat. All the best for 2021.
I used to live in Wenatchee washington. I've never heard of this until now. Washington has got to be some of the most beautiful country on GODS Earth! Much love.
I had never heard of this avalanche and so enjoyed your awesome history lesson. I absolutely love your videos, your style of delivery, speech and editing. You are just awesome, Chris and I love you and your videos so much!
Merry Christmas!! I've been watching Harmin's videos for awhile now.
Chris Merry Christmas and thank you for taking me on a cold Christmas journey.
Its 14° here in PA, 8:00 on Christmas night
kevin shiley My cats breath smells like cat food.
Interesting video! I just read a book about the Wellington avalanche and it was great to actually see what the site looks like today. Thanks!
Great video! You had a really good grasp on the story and layout while you were describing it up there.
Merry Christmas from Sth West of Western Australia! Such a devastating tragedy to happen and so many lives lost.
It makes me so nervous watching this and you guys being in there!😥😥😥 It could literally cave in any second!!! I have so much respect for you guys, and the way that you treat the historic sites!!! Thank you for sharing your experiences!!!❤❤❤
Hey my friend, I absolutely love your videos. They are so great. Keep up the great work
Truly amazing! Love it when you overlay the photos and video, crazy to think some of the structure from way back then is still there just like it was. Subed 👍
Thank you, Chris. I always enjoy your videos, and appreciate your thorough research and reporting. Have a happy and safe 2021!
That seemed like your beautiful winter village/train that can only be displayed in people's living rooms today. Would be so cool to have seen the bustling town in person.
Happened upon your channel 1/2021. I really enjoy your description of the happenings while you walk and show the viewers. I like the respect you give as well and don’t try to make it scary etc. anyway I’m now subscribed and I really enjoy your channel. Keep up the great work!
These kind of incidents and their aftermath are intriguing and make you wonder what it was like to be involved in it. The one that really gets me is the Johnstown flood, if you've never been there I highly recommend visiting the area, when you stand near the remnants of the earthen dam that let go you can only just begin to imagine the horror that occurred, there is a visitor center and a film about it.
Thanks for this amazing video! I have lived in Washington State most of my life and did not know about this! Your videos are always informative and respectful. Huge fan, 🤗
When were you actually filming this? There should be a lot of snow there now!
We filmed in October. :)
Dude you’re awesome!! I absolutely love old history and forgotten history.. this is the kind of stuff Id love to do.. thank you for these videos
The "thunder" they heard was probably the sound of that massive snow slide letting go.
Thank you for the great history you show us all! I really enjoyed the whole video.👌😎👍very interesting!
Thirty minutes of little known history Mobile Instinct style - what a gift! 😀
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Awesome work! Could be interesting to investigate the models of locomotives involved, then see if you recognize some of the parts.
Thanks Chris and Harmon! I didn't know you were friends, hahaha! Happy holidays, guys.
I had never heard of this disaster before, but it is very interesting. Good job of videoing as usual. Merry Christmas
Great video!! I certainly did not hear about this so I really enjoyed it.
Your version came out really well man!
Tye River was at the bottom. Fascinating video; thanks for posting. This is my second time to watch this. Great job.
Merry Christmas, Chris and Harmon, I had never heard of this avalanche, nor of the Snow Shed, but I think I understand how it can prevent a future avalanche at any given location. I really appreciate your reverantial attitude in these locations of fatal accidents. Thank you for showing us these little known locations, stay safe and have a Happy New Year.
This was so cool. Thanks for sharing. Never would have known about that if you didn’t share this. Thanks. Stay safe.
Amazing, interesting material! I like that these train parts are still there! It is as natural museum. You tell the story in a very interesting way. As always!
Never heard of it ! Thanks for the history lesson !!
Merry Christmas Chris! 🎄 As horrific as that tragedy was, it was very interesting the history and for you guys to walk where a thriving town once was. Mind boggling how sophisticated our technology was back or even before, we've always had innovated and creative minds to get things done, even in a bad scene like that. The snowplow Train with the huge fan on the front was an amazing idea back in the day.
Very informal video, I never heard of this before thank you for posting this video. Great presentation you did an awesome job putting this video together thanks.
This is a great video that I just stumbled on. I have hiked those rail beds a few times over the years. The snow shed is amazing. There is also a collapsed wooden snow shed a bit further down that is now just an immense pile of timber but you can see how it was a shed at one point in the past. It's great because it's not really a difficult hike. After all it's a railroad track. But that makes it accessible for a lot of people to get out in the woods! I never hiked down to the Tye river there. I had no idea there was so much debris still left down there. I may have to go back to check that out.
You probably didn't experience this at the time of year you were there but if you stand in front of one of the bigger tunnel portals on a 90 degree day, there is an amazing and constant cool wind that blows out from the tunnel. It's great to hike up and then have a huge air conditioner always running in the forest!
Finally, something else you didn't mention is that the area there has gained a reputation for being a ghost hunter hot spot. In fact, the last time I was there (maybe 10 years ago) there was a film crew from one of the cable networks recording an episode for one of the paranormal investigation shows.
Very interesting place and thank you for showing it!
Never knew about this. Tragic! Thanks for the video with the history.
Checking in from the UK! Love the channel, this video was awesome! Thank you. Have a good one!
Thanks goodness I was getting bored with everything else on RUclips I couldn't wait for you to post something, I love the history you find. Thank you for posting on Christmas. Marry Christmas to you and your friends and family.
Wendy Johnson Search for ordinary sausage on RUclips.
Wonderful video. Very informative. Thank you so much.
I've known about this for a long time, but this is the first in depth video I've seen on it. Thank you for this fantastic job you have done here. I always enjoy watching your videos. Very informative!🤗✌
Fascinating. Merry Christmas, Chris and Harmon.
Thank you for the outstanding tour, I've always wanted to know what it looked like up there, all these years later. Thank you.
2:13 reminds me of a road/clip from Stand By Me!!
I can’t believe I’ve never heard about this before, thanks for the great history lesson.
Great video 👍
Awesome vid!!! I’m watching a bunch of your vids tonight!
A really fascinating story! Thank you for reporting on this disaster
That was very interesting, Thank You for that historical walk through time. Mazel Tuv
Great work as always. Happy New Year.
When in high school in the 1960s, I did a report on this disaster. I had a great time researching this.
My sources of information were old archives of Seattle and Everett newspapers on microfilm. Also the book “Northwest Disaster: Avalanche and Fire” (avail. on Amazon) gave a detailed background and description of the tragedy. Most memorable in the book were the detailed biographies of many of the victims, some children-a lasting memorial to those who lost their lives.