Congratulations to Mitch Goldman for his winning photo in Trackside with Trains Vol. 304!
The theme for Vol. 305 is "towers." Show us the structures that once protected the rails! Please submit your images by 12 p.m. Central Daylight Time Thursday, June 1, 2017, to trackside@trains.com. Only one submission should be sent per photographer. For full guidelines, go to trn.trains.com/photos-videos/trackside.
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
The famous and very widely known Redondo Jct. Tower in Los Angeles (CA) burned down Sunday, May 28, 2017, just less than a week ago. How TIMELY for a Trackside to deal with “towers.” I wonder if anyone submitted a burned tower photo for Trackside #305.
Very small photo of the burnt tower (from trainorders.com):
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4304550
Juicy 1956 train wreck photo near Redondo Jct. Tower (tower is in the photo upper right background).
http://lafire.com/famous_fires/1956-0122_SantaFeTrainWreck/1956-0122_SantaFeTrainWreck.htm
A source belatedly informed me about the fire. It was surprising that there was NO TRAINS Newswire on the burning earlier in the week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
A lot of history there. So sad to hear it became a place for vagrants.
The Santa Fe RDC story and the accident is fascinating and so tragic. 30 dead is horrid. The whole story reads as something very "non Santa Fe" in every way.
Well a historic landmark is gone because no one on any level stepped in to do anything about it for a long time. The clock was ticking on it's fate.
Miningman (6-1):
Yes, that Santa Fe RDC story by Redondo Junction is indeed “fascinating” just as you said. But, what the story did NOT convey but newspaper accounts DID was that BOTH front crewmen said during interrogations that they saw orange groves right before the crash! Orange groves? There were NO orange groves there, but there were such many miles away on that San Diegan run. There are those of us that are convinced some sort of mind altering gas was released in the cab somehow, or the train went through such a gas cloud. That is basically untraceable sabotage. That suggests, if actually the reality, a person or persons got away with murder on a large scale! It could be the explanation for similar mysterious train crashes for the decades since.
While this thread is not the place to discuss these things, obviously, it was related to broaden even further that “fascinating” true, historic story from 1956.
Best,
K.P.
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