Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-06-14
TRAIN HELD BY SANDSTONE
Hard Winds Along Columbia River
Cause Conditions Unusual
to Railroads.

a. . NN1A h4NNtAA6 VI III 0COAO6
zeal society in Washington there were
a number of papers on scientific topics
read, and DR.. David T. Day, of the
geological survey, contributed a hui
m~an-interest story, describing the way
the black sand got back at him and
held up the train on which he was
travelling over the Oregon Short Line
last season for IL hours.
DR.. Day has been at work on the
black sand analysis of the Pacific
coast for many months, and has OBJ
tanned some remarkable results, show
ing the value of the sand from the
amount of gold, silver, platinum, mag
netic iron and other minerals that it
carried.
On the strip in question, he said,
the sand had a chance to turn the
tables and did it in good shape. 1t
was at the time of the nearest ap-
proach to a blizzard in the east, and at
the same time there was one of the
most violent sandstorms on record in
the section of the west through which
DR.. Day was travelling.
The June flood of the Columbia
river, he said, deposits upon the lava
floor Of the present river valley large
quantities of silt, and after the water
had subsidized the prevailing summer
wind blowing through the gorge of the
Columbia blows the dried sands into
the enormous sand dunes, which are
the characteristic feature of the seen
cry along the Oregon Short Line where
lie follows the Columbia river from
Umatilla to the Dalles. The railroad
company has found great difficulty in
keeping this sand from the track,
where even an accumulation of two
inches OF the rails is frequently suf-
fcient to overturn a train, with dis.
astrous results.
Among the efforts to prevent the
sands from drifting from one dune to
another are, particularly, the planting
of quick-growing shrubbery. The
most successful device has been plac
ing low board fences two feet high
and 16 feet long at an angle of As de-
grees with the track so as to use the
force of the wind to direct the sand
away from the track ON both sides.
This has proved fairly efficient fol
the prevailing easterly wind. But or
March II Of this year a blizzard Of
unusual velocity blew down the Co
lumbia in the reverse Of the usual di
rection and piled large amounts O.
sand on the track, stopping the trains
for the greater part Of a day.
The position of the sand fences IL
this case was such as to produce
funnel effect and blew the sand direct
ly on the track instead of away from
it, and the effective work of the sane
boards was very evident. The amour
Of work done by this windstorm wa
very great. Unfortunately, little dat
could be obtained from the weatheI
bureau as to the exact velocity Of tn,
wind at this point.
At Walla Walla, up the river, |
blew 40 miles an hour, and at Port
land 80 miles an hour, but whateve
the velocity its effect was to fill tn
air with sand so that the I'LL wa
entirely obscured from morning til
night, with the exception of an houl
when it could be dimly seen, althoug,
the weather nieD reported clear weatt
er at this point on that day.
The amount Of sand blown can b
indicated by the fact that two cattl
cars with their doors open to tn
windward side were filed four fee
deep during the night.