The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1901-1901, 1901-06-29
MANY MILES
OF G. n. TRACK
Near Williston Were Washed
OCT the Past Week
ROAD BED DISAPPEARS
Twenty-Five Miles of New Track Had to
Be- Built to Cross the
Morass.
ROAD BED DISAPPEARS

And when the trains from the east
began to arrive last night they came
as thick as the rainy days in June.
Through passengers state that in
the vicinity of Williston, N. d., the
track was washed away or impossible
for rs miles. The road bed was so soft
that the track sunk The continuance
of heavy rains kept the road bed in
bad shape for two days. The begin
ming of the trouble was when a freight
train near Minot ran at full speed onto
the sloppy grade and the rails spread,
leaving the train hopeless wreck.
In the vicinity of Williston the last
few days has been the greatest in
corresponding period since the rail
way was built. The ground was thor
oughly saturated before the recent
rains came, and early all the water
that has fallen in the last few days has
remained on the surface and sought all
possible channels to the streams, cut
ting new channels where there was
not sufficient outlet through the us
ual courses. The rain fell rapidly and
in torrents. At places it poured down
in such volume that it went through
roofs, and at the height of the storm
Sunday night the telegraph operator
at Culbertson reported that the water
was dripping from the roof into the
room and running over the switch
board in his office.
After the Sunday night storm, great
damage to the track was reported and
a repair train was started out from
Williston. 1t left the rails few miles
out and was abandoned, the road-bed
being too soft to permit it's running in
either direction.
The rainfall since Sunday has been
nearly twice as great as was that of
that night, and it come down in great
volume at frequent intervals, being &C
companied by severe electrical dis
turbances. The streams rose rapidly,
the coulees filled with water, and this
all softened the rOad-bed.
1t is conservative estimate that at
least twenty-five miles of track was
rendered impossible by the floods, and
at places ties and rail were washed
entirely off the right-of-way and the
debris was piled up in an almost in
extricable heap. So great was the
tangle at many places that no attempt
was made to recover rails or ties, but
an entirely new supply of track ma
terial was secured and large crews
were sent out to lay it.
The rainfall at Williston from 10 p.
m. Sunday until 8 a. m. Wednesday
| was 3.24 inches, and at other places
in that vicinity the precipitation was
much greater, and in one deep cOulee,
near Williston, the water has been SO
deep and the current so forceful and
swift that it has carried away earth
and large rocks that have been thrown
into the coulee, the track over which
was carried away.
Late Thursday evening the track
was replaced to large extent and a
train was sent from Glasgow to trans
fer the mail that had accumulated east
of the washOut
Traffic was shortly after resumed
and the delayed mail and passengers
and express began coming west ii
quick and rapid succession. This wa.
one of the most disastrous washout.
ever occurring on the Great Northern
and in all the accidents it was re
markable that there was no loss o
life.