Carlin Tunnel

Nevada

A passenger train derailed at the bridges here in 1939, killing twenty-four people, and investigators ruled it deliberate sabotage that was never solved.

engineeringhistoricaldisaster

In 1939 a passenger train called the City of San Francisco came off the rails on one of the Humboldt River bridges beside this canyon. Twenty-four people died and more than a hundred and twenty were hurt. Investigators concluded the wreck had been caused deliberately. Nobody was ever charged, and the case is still open. The bridges and tunnels near Carlin have drawn trouble more than once. A rock slide in 1908 nearly brought down the Southern Pacific tunnel, and crews mounted a huge effort to save the line. In 2008 a derailment at a smaller tunnel just west of Carlin dropped one of the Humboldt River bridges into the water. That single collapse delayed rail traffic across the country. All of it comes back to the same problem. The Humboldt River makes a sharp bend through Carlin Canyon, and everything that moves through here has been trying to cut the corner.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
In 1939, the City of San Francisco passenger train derailed on one of the Humboldt river bridges, killing 24 and injuring 121. The incident was ruled sabotage, but remains unsolved.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Nearby, on the same roads

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