Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-07
PASSENGERS RESCUED AFTER SIX
DAYS MENACE BY ICE AND FLOOD
Reports Indicate that Caliente, Nevada, Has
Been Damaged and "a Miles of Railroad
Track Have Been Washed Away

After having consumed nearly all of
the food in the dining car, after being
kept warm night after night by bon
fires made of railroad ties which were
torn from the roadbed, and after hav-
ing passed nearly six days by telling
every possible story of railroad wrecks
which occurred to them, the passengers
of a Salt Lake train, marooned be-
tween washouts not far from Caliente,
New, were rescused yesterday
Although it at first was believed
that the train carried between twenty
five and 100 passengers, it was made
known late Yesterday afternoon that
but twelve passengers were en- route
when the engineer pulled the throttle
which stopped the train. While none
of the names of the passengers has as
yet been learned, it is known that the
majority of them are residents of Los
Angeles
The rescue of the passengers was ef-
fected by several parties who left
Panaca, a Mormon settlement seven
teen miles north of Caliente on the
Phoebe line, for that purpose with
wagons. The occupants of the coaches
were first taken to Panaca, and from
there were taken to Modena, where
they resumed their journey. None of
those delayed were any the worse for
their experience.
i Engineers Lost Sight OF
A remarkable feature of the delay of
this train was that, had schedule time
been maintained, the trip would have
been made, as the washout occurred
but a few minutes before the train
reached the spot where several miles
of track had been rendered unsafe.
Nothing has been heard from the
engineering party in charge of Chief
Engineer C. G. Tilton of the Salt Lake
railroad, which now is entering the
Meadow Valley wash.
''As the party is leaving telegraphic
communication farther and farther be-
hind I do not expect word from them
for several days" said Assistant Cen
eraI Manager c.. J. Balch yesterday in
speaking of the condition of the road.
GAS the wires in this section are all
down, and as the roadbed is known to
be in bad condition, it probably will be
some time before travel can be re-
sumed."
Reports from Nevada indicate that
the damage in the Meadow Valley
wash is even more general and
destructive than it was two weeks ago,
when the Salt Lake overland system
was tied 1lp for several months while
the road was being rebuilt. steel
bridges put in and the roadway rip
raped with huge blocks of stone to
prevent destruction from floods in
future.
CaIiente Suffers Heavily
It is reported that part of the town
of Caliente New, is partially washed
away, and that what remains of the
town is under a deep coating of mud.
There is no means as yet of learning
whether there was any loss of life.
The gorge known as the Meadow
Valley wash is one of the scenic spots
on the Salt Lake line, where the rail-
road runs for miles between precipitous
bluffs, hundreds of feet in height, the
great rock masses stained in almost all
the colors of the rainbow
This gorge extends from Mimic, close
to the Utah Nevada line, to Guelph
Station, distance of seventy-four
miles, In ordinary times the little
stream that flows through the wash is
insignificant indeed. hardly big enough
to call it's attention to any passenger,
but in time of storm the two walls of
the canyon, which at places is barely
wide enough to allow of the passage of
both stream and railroad, become the
banks of a raging torrent, draining
range of high mountains and vast
tract of desert land.
Damage Is Enormous
Reports indicate that the latest
storm has practically destroyed the
Salt Lake tracks from Mimic, 463 miles
east of Los Angeles, to Guelph Sta"
tion, at the western end of the canyon,
393 miles east of Los Angeles, Be-
tween these two points lies Caliente
457 miles east of here, division point
on the railroad, the site of big round
house and the junction with railroad
built two years ago to Phoebe, New.
The little hamlet of Panaca, from
which help was sent to the marooned
train, lies about eighteen miles north
of Caliente. 1t is a Mormon settle
ment, where the followers of Joseph