Locomotive Strikes Boulder in North Bank Slide
A train derailment on the Spokane, Portland & Seattle line injures an engineer but spares passengers as the train was moving slowly through dangerous terrain.
VANCOUVER, B.C., Jan. 23.—The North Bank limited, bound for Portland on the Spokane, Portland & Seattle railroad, was derailed near Avery at 4:45 this morning. The locomotive struck a large rock that had been carried over the tracks by a slide. Fortunately, the train was going slowly because of the bad condition of the track, and none of the passenger coaches was derailed. Engineer I. J. McLane was the only person hurt in the wreck and he was not seriously injured.
“The locomotive struck a large rock that had been carried over the tracks by a slide.”
Rail infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest has contended with the region's steep, unstable geology for over a century. Slides and track washouts remain a critical concern for modern freight and passenger rail operations along the Columbia River Gorge.
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