Let this be a lesson. Be prepared.
- From: "Dr.Smith" <jhnichols3@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 18:05:31 -0600
Being an avid shutterbug, I normally keep my camera with me whenever
possible. As I tell people who see the camera in my vehicle, you never know
when you will run into Elvis or Sasquatch. I work at a place and have my
own company owned vehicle in which to conduct my business and when I have to
drive it I will almost always stop in the main parking lot and get my camera
bag out of my personal vehicle. Today was different. I had to go with
coworker in their vehicle to a location. I could have taken my camera with
us, but selfconciousness got the better of me and I decided to leave it in
my personal vehicle. 15 minutes later while my coworker operated a back hoe
and directed traffic around him, I noticed that as a train was slowly
breaking 150 yards away on top of a trestle. Their was a puff of dense
black dust, and our first thought was that one of the hopper cars that was
crossing the trestle at the time was leaking some dust. In a few seconds we
could tell that the 'dust' was not coming from the cars, but from the
trestle itself, and the cloud was getting larger. This was not dust, but
smoke. As my partner called the railroad and I called our dispatch on my
radio to call the fire department, we saw the first flames erupt from below
the train cars. Having called the proper authorities, there was nothing we
could do, but wait and observe. The train came to a stop and within 3 to 4
minutes the trestle with it's freshly laid ties, replaced just days before,
and hopper cars now sitting still were completely engulfed in flames. I
watched silently furious with myself for not throwing my camera bag in my
partners truck. By the time news cameramen arrived they could not get
closer then a quarter mile, because the road had been blocked by the police,
and then they were downwind and there was a good breeze so the actually fire
was hid by the smoke itself. From my vantage point I had a clear view of
the fire, the train cars, the firemen, emergency vehicles, railroad workers,
spraying water main that ran along the side of the trestle, and the thick
black smoke towering high above us into an otherwise clear blue sky.
Because I was afraid of having to explain to someone why I like taking my
camera with me, these images will only live now in my memory.
.
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