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Show On Sunday, 27 February, the storm grew even worse. Passengers on the train held a church service, led by a minister on board, which somewhat eased the tension and silent dread of the passengers. During the morning, the division superintendent and two other workers began to hike westward to Scenic, a small railroad town 8- g- miles away. A little later five men from the train decided they too would walk out. All arrived at Scenic, but during the trip one railroad man was caught in an avalanche and carried 1000 feet into a ravine, miraculously escaping death. The five passengers were near collapse when they arrived. It was obvious the remaining passengers could not walk out. Back at Wellington, a number of railroad laborers quit because their demand for higher wages was refused. They began walking out with their bedrolls on their backs. A rotary crew from the east had walked 10 miles back to Wellington to report their equipment was stalled between two slides, and they found a number of slides had run all along the way. In addition to these alarming facts, that afternoon the passengers heard the roar of avalanches more frequently and closer than before. One of the passengers was fascinated by the mountainside above the train. When they first had arrived, a number of stumps and snags could be seen. ( The slope had been burned off a number of years before.) Now there were no blemishes - just an " immense quilt of pure white snow." * This passenger went to the hotel to replenish his tobacco, and on the way observed a " part of a hill simply fold up and start sliding with a roar." * This slide did no damage, but was an ominous warning and shook the observer. Late Sunday, the snowfall dwindled into a thin sleet. Monday marked the fourth day the trains had been on the siding. The tension was electric - all were a bundle of nerves. The slightest unusual noise startled everyone. Around midnight, the sleet quit, and a warm, moist southwest chinook wind set in. By this time, some of the drifts had reached 20 feet in depth. During the day Monday, more men set out for Scenic - seven passengers and four railroad men. At 0120 hours, on Tuesday, I March, the white death made it call. The avalanche that many had feared swept everything in its path 150 feet down into the Tye River Canyon. Buried under the snow lay two trains, three steam locomotives, four electric locomotives, a rotary snowplow, several boxcars, an engine shed, a water tower, and telegraph poles and wires! Some of the few survivors described the avalanche as follows: " The coach lifted and went hurtling through the air. It kept falling, falling, with many grinding noises. I was catapulted forward and found myself lying in my pajamas in the snow." * - See end of report for source of these quotes. |