Erik H. Wrote:
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> George Andrews Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just reported on ABC World News Overnight, the
> Coast Starlight is stranded somewhere in
> > Oregon after it hit a downed tree in heavy
> snow.
>
> Stranded in/near Oakridge, about 35 miles
> southeast of Eugene.
>
> Due to deteriorating conditions, Highway 58 (the
> paralleling highway) was shut down so unable to
> move buses or other equipment by highway.
> Oakridge then lost power, so unable to get food at
> local grocery stores or put up passengers in local
> hotels. Meanwhile snowfall was increasing, making
> it difficult for UP to move in equipment to clear
> the track and pull the train back to Eugene.
>
> Basically a bad situation that only got worse by
> the minute.


Maybe if UP hadn't scrapped all their snowfighting equipment in Eugene decades ago, they could have gotten there sooner. Pretty soon railroads will be like trucking companies and just shut down every time the weather gets grim.