DISASTER: In the Wheatlands

DISASTER In the Wheatlands

Smoke from the hotbox eddied beneath the locomotive. The Great Northern's west bound Empire Builder, pounding hard for lost time in North Dakota's bronzed wheat lands, ground to an emergency stop just beyond Michigan City. A few miles back, the Empire Builder's second section was coming in out of the east. A flagman ran the few hundred yards back to Michigan City to flag it, but he never made it. Section 2 hit the Michigan City curve with its exhaust drumming, plowed slam-bang into Section I.

The observation car was smashed. Seconds earlier, two servicemen in it had...

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