Winter Strikes Back

I READ “HOW THE RAILROADS DEFEATED Winter” (by Patrick Allitt, Winter 1998) with much interest but was surprised that the author did not mention the City of San Francisco , which was snowbound at Donner Pass from January 13 to 16, 1952. I was on that train as a young Navy officer headed for San Francisco during the Korean conflict. There were 196 passengers and a crew of 30 aboard while a huge blizzard piled snow higher and higher for about two days of subfreezing temperatures after we stalled. After a time most of the train was covered with snow.

The train, which was one of the finest, became a black cave. Under each car was an individual engine-driven electric generator. When the snow covered the train, the carbon monoxide exhaust filtered into the cars and 20 people were temporarily overcome. The generators were shut down, and so, with no electricity, the train was completely dark.

We lived in this worsening condition for more than two days, until the Southern Pacific Railroad marshaled about a thousand men with rotary plows, army weasels (snow vehicles), and skis to get us out. Food supplies were low, and the sanitary facilities became inoperative. With no heat the interior grew colder. As most of the passengers were headed to a warm climate, many did not have winter clothing. I was fortunate in that I had all my gear, so I had a warm coat.

Finally the railroad gave up on getting the train out of the drifts, and the California Highway Department plowed out a road adjacent to the track and organized a shuttle of a truck and about six autos. During the third day, which was sunny, cold, and clear, we finally walked off the train to the autos. We were taken to Emigrant Gap, California, where we boarded another train and proceeded to San Francisco. Amazingly, no one perished. We were told this was the first time a passenger train had been abandoned this way.

Although your article does not refer to any situations after the early 1900s, the power of Mother Nature could still subdue the railroads in 1952.

Marshall Damerell
Lusby, Md.