Time Machine: 30 years ago, train derails in Glenwood Canyon
Vail Trail/Vail Daily archive
30 years ago
Jan. 10, 1995
A Southern Pacific freight train derailed in Glenwood Canyon, with three cars carrying soybean meal plunging into the Colorado River.
A potential crisis was averted as no injuries were reported and six other cars containing anhydrous ammonia remained erect and did not topple into the river, the Associated Press reported.
Southern Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney described the incident as a “relatively minor” derailment in terms of the number of cars and the situation.
The two other derailed cars also did not tip over. One contained scrap waste paper and the other held steel bars.
Support Local Journalism
The westbound freight train was en route to Salt Lake City from Pueblo when it left the track about 8:40 p.m., railroad officials said. The derailment site was in the east end of Glenwood Canyon, near the Bair Ranch.
40 years ago
Jan. 18, 1985
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Department was getting serious about enforcing snowmobile regulations in Red Cliff, Gypsum and unincorporated Eagle County, the Vail Trail reported.
The department had been receiving lots of citizen complaints of snowmobile abuses including noise complaints and complaints of snowmobiles being operated up and down public streets.
“Some of the offenders are children, who the department is ready to ticket for the offenses,” the Trail reported.
The Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation advised snowmobile operators to carry their registration certificates with them and display their current validation decals on each side of the upper cowling of the machine.
50 years ago
Jan. 17, 1975
After the state land use commission approved Beaver Creek, newly installed Gov. Richard Lamm “reacted violently,” the Vail Trail reported.
“The Jan. 15 issue of the Rocky Mountain News reported that Lamm plans to fire three of the seven members who voted in favor of Beaver Creek,” the Trail reported. “Lamm also requested that the Forest Service take no action for 10 days, adding that a restructured Commission might be asked to use their emergency powers to stop Beaver Creek development.”
When Lamm became Colorado’s governor on Jan. 14, he “inherited the recommendation of some black sheep,” the Trail reported. “On Monday, January 13 six members of the Colorado Land Use Commission voted 7-2 to recommend to the governor the designation of the Meadow Mountain-Beaver Creek management area as a winter sports site by the U.S. Forest Service. On December 19 Lamm publicly suggested a one-year moratorium on issuance of ski area use permits by the U.S. Forest Service.”
John Bermingham of the State Planning Office led the opposition to the sports site designation, the Trail reported.
“I don’t think it’s going to do any good to monitor,” he said. “After the buildings are up and the people are there, then it’s too late.”
60 years ago
Jan. 14, 1965
Herds of elk invading stockmen’s hay stacks were presenting problems to stockmen and Game and Fish personnel throughout Eagle County, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
The situation led Game and Fish officials to undertake something they called “Operation Elk” in the Burns area of Eagle County, in which they would try to entice the elk to higher elevations.
“Fred Sattenfield bulldozed a road into high country about three miles above the Benton Livestock and Land Co., and the Game and Fish Department hauled 4 1/2 tons of hay,” the Enterprise reported. “Then Sunday, a helicopter was used to drive the elk above the hay.”
70 years ago
Jan. 13, 1955
The Civil Air Patrol conducted a training exercise in Eagle County, in which civilians simulated the rescue of survivors of a mock plane crash, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
The mission was a part of a Civil Air Patrol program that aimed to train civilians to take over in case of an emergency.
The patrol plane dumped a colored target in the snowy Salt Creek area southeast of Eagle, representing the missing plane, and the CAP plane then conducted an aerial search, carrying other members of the patrol who were ignorant of the location of the mock wreck.
“After they located the ‘wreck’ the plane returned to the CAA field, where ground rescue crews were awaiting the alert,” the Enterprise reported.
The location of the wreckage was made on a map, and ground crews then took off from the airfield in Jeeps to the general area.
