The Glenwood post., 1920-02-28
SNOW SLIDES
MAROON TRAINS
Warm Weather Caused Great
Masses To Loosen Re-
suIting In Trouble
FAVORED BY FORTUNE

Perhaps not since February 1899
when the Rio Grande was tied up for
over week and. the Midland was
abandoned for ninety days has Glen
wood been so inconvenienced by snow
slides as this week when the Rio
Grande, our only railroad, was com
pletely blockaded through the Glen
wood canon between this city and Sho
shone, by many snowslides as result
of the warm weather and the rain
which caused the snow on the steep
cliffs to let loose and rush down the
mountain, carrying rocks and timber
in its wake, making traffic impossible
and jeopardiziug the lives of those
who were trying to make their way
along the railroad tracks, by train or
otherwise.
The first train to be held up by the
slides was eastbound passenger No. 2,
near Shoshone, Sunday morning. 1t
was halted by a slide in the canon Il
few miles east of Glenwood, and there
the trouble began. The engine was
taken off of this train in the hope of
dislodging slide short distance
ahead, but while this task was being
attended to another slide came down
behind the engine and separated it
from the coaches for several hours,
much to the discomfort of the passen-
gers
E.astbound freight train No. so, a
short distance east of Grizzly struck a
slide about go feet long and 80 feet
deep, and while they were "bucking'
this slide, another came down and
struck the engine, completely covering
the same and burying Engineer Han
son completely in the cab, and it was
thirty minutes before the crew could
dig the man out and release him from
his perilous position. When they reach
ed him they found him just passing
into Inconsistencies, and more dead
than alive. Albert Waters, the fire.
man, being on the opposite side of the
cigine from the angry slide, jumped
river, but the avalanche which had
now struck the engine and buried
Hanson, his working companion,
caught Waters and carried him some
distance, held him within its icy grasp
his head only being free, and the snow
being packed tightly around his body
that it almost crushed him. As soon
as Hanson was rescued, the men turn
ed theil attention to Waters and he
was soon released from the chill
clutches of the slide, but he says he
lived days in those fateful thirty or
forty minutes and suffered an expez-
fence which h. certainly hopes may
rever be- repeated, as one experience
of that sort is quite enough for him.
One ot the heaviest Of the slides
was about 400 feet long and 80 to 20
feet deep and consisted of great masses
Of snow, with which was intermingled
masses of dirt, boulders. trees, stumns
and mountain shrubbery, the whole
acking III such a solid mass on the
track as t, make the work of cl'ar-
ing very tedious.
One of ,'Ie passenger engines WAS
struck t.. a slide and knocked from
the track, arG the wrccker from Grad
Junction was sent to the scene to re-
place the disabled monster. As it WAS
impossible to right the engine and l'ht
it in working condition it WAS pushe 4
out Of the way and left by the side
of the track for the present.
IT was not until Tuesday mofnine
that the track was cleared and the
first of the fourteen delayed trains
moved over the dangerous sector. Two
of the six trains that had been held
on the Glenwood sidetracks were
started about nine O'Clock Tuesday
morning on their eastward journey
An anxious crowd waited on the plat
form for the incoming trains which
bring in the delayed mail, not to mon
ton the more anxious people who
waited for friends who had been mar
ooned on one or the other Of west
bound trains. 1t was nearly noon,
however when the Arst train came
through the tunnel and its shriil
whistle was answered by joyous shouts