Hi Dale and Karen, great job and wonderful content as usual 'these days'. I have finally watched what I believe to be all of the videos on the channel as clearly there has been time for some 'MASSIVE SCREWING AROUND' in my schedule as of late. Now I just can hardly wait for the new stuff on Friday, Sunday, occasionally foolishly Wednesdays. Anyway I digress... (he he) Who wouldn't want to win the use of 'these days' for an entire year! Without it, one would need to resort back to the cave man's 'thesaurus' that long extinct... To resurrect terms like' nowadays' and 'currently'. Anyway, I've lost count... I hope you and the rest of the 'cool kids' who subscribe got a smile thinking about how not to get through the next year without the use of the term 'these days'. We may just need them... Thanks for everything you two. All the best, Peter
Peter Norkawich wow you made it through all of them! Now you even know how to cheat at Midway games. I really enjoy doing that show! We've been working most of the day on next week show for some reason it's just turning out to be really complicated. I guess we're just putting a lot into it that's all. But it's just a continuation of today's show. But after spending two days on the road shooting it it just seems like we should really do a fine job of editing it together so we been playing with it rather extensively.
I am from the area that we will be visiting in next weeks show! One of the things which brought Dale and I together... He had a house in Spring City, Utah... and I use to live there a few years ago... A beautiful area... rich with history, and beautiful old homes! :D
The two guys in the boat at 5:31 were me and my best friend. He called me one night and asked me if I wanted to ferry workers with him at the slide. He told me to bring a hardhat and a lunchbox and nobody would bother me, which they didn't. We hauled workers to and from the dam and wherever the water had reached up US 6. That only happened when we got there in the morning and 12 hrs later in the afternoon. In between we did whatever we wanted. We found that we were pretty popular and had many people wanting us to take them around. We hauled people from Time Magazine, Denver Post, and others. Lot's of film boxes in the bottom of the boat. We picked up a group who looked pretty important on US 6 and took them to the dam. They all jumped off and then one older guy in a cowboy hat jumped back in because he forgot a hardhat. We told him it didn't matter and he said " it does when your the national inspector from OSHA. We laughed and he said "show me around". We took him up the Birdseye side and then on the way back around we hit a submerged power line with the prop and about lost him out the front of the boat. He stood up and gave a big yell, he told us he was having a blast. One thing we saw a few times was telephone poles shooting up out of the water. What a day! Kyle 801-380-1802
I live in a little town over that mountain on frame7:11 / 14:10, You mentioned in your video that the area we're looking at is stable. The ground between the three rock bluffs on the left of the screen and the Single Bluff to the right about three quarters of the way through the picture, Is moving soil just like the Thistle slide. It could happen again. I'm writing this march 30'th ,2023. We have a snowpack heavier this year than it was in nineteen eighty two eighty three winter. A lot of that mountain range was in a forest fire 6 , 7 years ago. There is a probability of debris flows from the burns scars. As well as soil movement.
I was military then, we flew helicopters in to evacuate personal effects and cut fences to let livestock escape to higher ground. A personal friend of mine owned a ranch there, it was he who first noticed the RR tracks had been warped out of position. He called the rail road and told them to stop the trains. And that's how it all began.
Great video. My father, Vern Tucker, worked for H. E. Lowdermilk Construction out of their regional HQ between Helper and Price Utah. He was often called out to help with train derailments and the like as he was a bulldozer operator. And again he was called out when the Thistle Slide happened. He worked dozens of hours in the rain and damp to help build up the mudslide so it would not collapse. Sadly after it was over he never recovered health wise from the ordeal. Although healthy his entire life he became bedridden from the ordeal and died the following December in a Salt Lake hospital. He was 53. That is why your video caught my eye as I read and view articles and films about the Thistle Flood from time to time.
Wow that is quite a story. So many stories we wanted to go into all of this but then the movie would’ve been three days long! One of our friends is locomotive engineer on Amtrak, and he was running the Rio Grande Zephyr which was the last train through before the tracks went out. As they were approaching the slide area they could see that the tracks were distorted! They radioed in there was a problem and then went very slowly through the problem area and then behind them they could see the tracks visually rising! So the Rio Grande zephyr was the last train through and ended up stranded on the other side. And never ran over the line again. Today the locomotives are in the Colorado Railroad museum in golden. Also there’s a hill right in the middle of thistle. Whoever settled the area dubbed it island! And after the thistle slide it actually became an island! Now it’s back to being a hill so perhaps they should change its name from island to Hill. That’s an amazing story about your father. It really tragic, he was so young. They always say no one was hurt in the slide, but I guess that’s just a matter of perspective isn’t it
You 2 are a hoot! I enjoy listening to you talking in the car. That’s some serious skills right there, the way you 2 converse it’s beautiful really, it’s clear you know each other a lot more than well, and you love each other. Thanks for sharing your energy and talents with this video.
Finally I'm up to the video that started my toy man journey. I went back to the beginning and have now seen them all up to this point. Can't wait to see them all.
I worked on a Signal gang for the D&RG railroad on nearly every inch of the mainline from Denver to Salt Lake City. And I remember working that section in and thru the town of Thistle in 1975. Its strange to me to know that it is all gone now due to that large landslide. I remember sitting in the Thistle section shed with the gang early one morning getting warm around the big pot belly stove they had in there before we went out to work on the pole line and string some new signal wires. That old section shed in Thistle had been built out of railroad ties and was bigger and much thicker than most section sheds but the thing I remember was how strongly it smelled of hundred year old coal soot and creosote. Funny the things you remember about a place. Haha. Another odd thing that happened in Thistle was we (the gang) went into a tiny gas station early one morning to fill up the gang truck and buy cigarettes and as we were walking out a couple guys were standing around a pickup truck talking and they said they had a mountain lion in back of the truck and asked if we wanted to see it. Well of course the answer was hell yes. I think we all just assumed the guy meant they had a dead mountain lion and you bet we wanted to see it so we step over to the truck and this guy pulls back a tarp he had in the back and under the tarp was a live mountain lion with its feet bound and a large stick in its mouth. When he pulled that tarp back the lion naturally tried to raise up and it hissed really loudly with a low growling sound. I'm telling you we all about crapped our pants and couldn't jump back quick enough! This was one unhappy lion! I'll never forget how quick evervbody jumped back at the site of it. The first thought was -what the hell are you doing with a live lion??!! ..and how the hell did you catch it to tie it up like that?!!! The guy threw the tarp back over the lion and said they caught it in a makeshift live trap they had made and managed to tie it up thru the bars. They said they poked the lion with a big stick thru the cage and when they did the lion chomped down on it and broke it in half. That stick was about as big around as your forearm...anyway they said the lion wouldn't let go of the stick in its rage and it made it easier to get a rope around its four legs with another stick. If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it but its a true story...so the landslide story for me is only second best about the tiny town of Thistle, Utah! I can still see that lion with that stick in its mouth in my mind and its been 45 years ago now! Unreal! ":-0
Now that is an amazing story! When I was a kid there was a guy who had a gas station just up the block who had a pet bobcat. Pet is a relative expression in that he kept it in a cage and consider that a pet but you sure wouldn’t want to touch it or you lose a finger! Anyway that same guy had 12 inch life steam on a rail road with another guy that was really cool. He also had a llama. For a while at least he kept it tied up in front of his gas station to see if people would come in and buy gas. I don’t think these days you could get away with a thing like that. No speaking of thistle I showed pictures of Train number six, better known as the Rio Grande Zephyr, that survived from the old California Zephyr. A close friend of mine was Engeneer on the last run. And as they were approaching Thistle they could see that there were problems with the track but everything seemed OK, but clearly something was amiss. It any rate they decided it was safe to proceed and they did but after they crossed through the area of the slide they could see behind the train the tracks were slowly rising up! The weird thing about the thistle slide is at first it was underground. So the highway and the tracks and everything were just slowly moving up. And once they were about 3 feet above where they normally would be the whole thing started to rupture and mud started going all over the place. At any rate Train number six ended up stranded in Salt Lake City with no way to get back to Denver. It stayed in the Salt Lake yards for months. We will go down there just to sort of look at it. And then one day they got permission to take it over the union pacific back to its home in Denver. The locomotives are now at the Colorado state railroad museum in Golden Colorado and the cars are all in private collections. Its last revenue run was over that slowly rising track.
Thank you so much for the time and energy you put in to these videos. They are as informative as they are interesting. They are beautifully produced and they really offer a glimps of history not found in books or classes. Thank you again.
My wife and I rode the D&RGW from SLC to Grand Junction (and back) in Dec. 1981, so I guess we rode through Thistle before the slide hit. At the time, the D&RGW had a chef cooking in the Restaurant Car, and I surprised my wife by ordering "Fresh Rocky Mountain Trout" -- I almost never eat fish, but I couldn't pass that one up. Rode back from Grand Junction to SLC on 12/31/1981, expected to celebrate New Year's Eve in the Lounge Car, but our plans got frustrated -- they removed the Lounge Car at Grand Junction because of a smoking bearing on one of the train's wheels. We figured we'd be able to hurry to the AMTRAK lounge Car once we boarded at Ogden and get in a quick drink to celebrate the new year, but that got frustrated too -- AMTRAK was four hours late coming out of Chicago, due to heavy snow on the great plains. Sitting in the Ogden Station (which was an absolutely glorious example of a train station) about 11:50 that night, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony when I heard someone's AM radio playing "Midnight, and I'm a-waiting on the twelve-oh-five, hoping it'll take me just a little farther down the line". Stuck in the driest state in the USA on NYE, and I couldn't even find a convenience store to buy a six-pack. There are times when my life seems like a Country & Western song. There was one unexpected benefit to our delay: there was fresh snowfall in the Sierras, and we were able to see Donner Lake, just as pretty as a postcard, during daylight, instead of passing through that area in the darkness of early morning. By the way, I've seen the results of a bigger landslide: The Hope Slide, at Johnson Peak, near Hope, British Columbia, 1965. I passed through there about 1972 or so, as a teenager, travelling with my grandparents. The Wikipedia entry gives some absolutely astonishing statistics related to the event. Check Google Maps (49.302863, -121.260247), you can still see the scar on the side of the mountain.
That was a great ride!!!! I took it when ever I could. Had tickets for the last run, but the Zephyr was the last train through as the slide hit. Actually went OVER the moving grade!! Then was trapped west of the slide. Weeks later they took it over the UP empty and gave me back the money for the trip!! I went down to Roper yard several times to see it just parked on the old Park City branch. Sat there for weeks. Never ran on the Rio Grand again. Engine is now at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Miss the rainbow trout. Miss the ride.....
I enjoyed your narrative of the Thistle Landslide. My rail employment brought me to Denver between 1994 and 1997. I worked at the Rio Grande Building on Lincoln Street (although the building had "Southern Pacific" signage on the exterior). One day one of the managers spoke of the landslide. He had arrived at the site shortly after the occurrence. I knew that the D&RGW had almost immediately begun construction of the bypass around Thistle. I asked how the railroad had been able to take possession of the land for the bypass so quickly. He replied that the property owners (likely they were all ranchers) were offered incredibly large sums of money up-front so the railroad could take immediate possession of the land for the new right-of-way. That is how they did it. Further, he advised that the senior engineering manager for the Utah highways visited the railroad's construction site and was blown-away by the railroad's quick response. The engineering manager advised that they he had not yet submitted their Impact Statement for the flooding of the U.S. highways.
Wonderful video, looks and sounds really professional. You make anything interesting, and possess what must be one of the best narrator voices on the planet. Thank you both for doing this and sharing it with us, it's such a treat. Looking forward to some more massive screwing around next week. :)
Thanks for sharing this. My dad Jim Ozment was the Division Engineer for the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad when this happened. What an disaster and adventure it was.
Just a little background, in 1991 I took the Amtrak Train from Chicago to Reno. Part of the trip talked about the “Thistle Slide” as you passed by. But it left me with more questions than answers. As Paul Harvey would have said, “Now You Know the Rest of the Story”.
Beautifully covered! I had forgotten the incident until seeing this. I was volunteering for the fire department at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA when it occurred. Our special strike team (Poly Pyrotechnics) was on standby to go back there and help out. We never got the call. There was little coverage in the news out here, so I'm glad you two took the time to revisit the area. I got chills watching this and immediate wondered "what if we had gone?". At 27 years old, then, I'm sure I would have been shocked beyond belief.
Randall Hawkinson It was a shock, indeed! Mother Nature sure has a way of changing the contour of the land when she chooses to do so.. and often, we are powerless to do anything about it!
My wife spent 7 years in Thistle with her mom and dad. He worked for the Denver and Rio Grande Western as a Section Hand and Supervisor. They moved to Ogden when her dad got "bumped" by another employee and ended up working for the Union Pacific. We met in New Mexico (they had moved to Cimarron NM for her parent's health). After we were married, we moved them back to Ogden in April 1981 and made a couple of trips up there to visit in 1982. We were in Perryton, TX when I saw the mess in Thistle. I told my wife and she came over to see what was happening. She burst into tears. She still gets teary-eyed when we would pass through there. One summer, we stopped to see her folks old place. The house was gone; it floated away. All that was left was the electric pole with the electric meter still attached. I took her dad down there after the water in the lake was drained. He got all choked up. He showed me where he worked and we visited several sites. We fished in the stream and caught a couple of rainbow trout. We put them on ice and took them home. He told my mother-in-law and she wept a little. My wife has many wonderful childhood memories that she shared with me.
That’s a great story. It’s really sad that that happened. I went there right after they drained the flood. Mud. About 6 to 8 feet deep. You need to be careful where you stepped. The railroad signals were sticking out of the mud. Only about 8 feet tall sticking out of the mud.
It sure was a mess! And the area flooding continued into 1984! Then... as is typical in the state of Utah.. We reversed to our usual drought condition. Of course.. that brings on the threat of wild fires! In June of 2012, the Wood Hollow fire caused the evacuation of the towns Indianola, Milburn, Hideaway/ Blackhawk Estates, and the town of Fairview. these towns are just south of Thistle. That ended up being the most expensive fire in the state of Utah, with 47,387 acres burned at nearly 6,000,000 dollars.
That line about trying to remember that house in the water used to be someone's house they would have Christmas in every year... The first time I watched this video my 5 year old was watching, since then she's always told whoever we're with when we pass it that people used to have Christmas there. I thought it was cute.
My dad was the last vehicle they let through that morning. He was in a semi truck with a tanker load heading to the power plant. The road was all buckled but he krept through. 20 minutes later he heard that the mountain came down. A few years later he took me on the same run in his semi and showed me the houses on the side of the freeway burried in the mud.
what a great adventure in the history is fascinating the family and I are taking a vacation to the Grand Canyon Four Corners and Vegas trying to talk to wife into going up to Utah it's like pulling teeth without anesthetic once again sir thank you for your knowledge and expertise and you're great adventures
My Dad and I were chasing trains in Colorado the day the slide wiped out the D&RGW tracks. We were at the rail crossing at Blue Mountain, (near Plainview, CO and the mouth of Coal Creek Canyon.) when a freight came by. It started up the grade to Tunnel 1 and then just shut down.... The train blocked the crossing and we were stuck at the crossing till helpers from Denver showed up to take the train back to Denver. My Uncle was a Regional big shot with FEMA at the time and he was put in charge of the slide area.
What a mess. Last train through was the Zephyr. And the ground was already moving. But they got it through. Then it was stuck on the west side of the slide until they took it over UP back to Denver. Last run ever of 5771 on that line. Sad.
This is a great video. I would have been 2 years old when this happened. I have driven through Thistle many times. Not a boring movie at all :-) I remember wondering what happened to this town the first time I saw the old schoolhouse, and submerged houses. It was so sad to see, and I wanted to research the history to find out just what happened. Then about 8 years ago, I read some history that Norma Sumsion had put together, but I didn't have the full story. This really is quite helpful. Thanks!
One other addition/correction. The Utah Railway actually owns one of the tracks between Thistle and Provo. The Utah and the Rio Grande agreed to operate their two separate, but parallel lines, as joint trackage. The Utah also receive rights over the Rio Grande between Utah Rwy Jct. (RR west of Helper) and Thistle instead of building their own line as they had originally planned. I reconfirmed this on Don Stack's indispensable UtahRail (dot) Net website. Please consider this as more of an addition to your very enjoyable program, rather then criticism!. Looking forward to watching your Marysvale and Park City programs!
The Thistle train station was moved to Mapleton Utah in 1952 and was converted to a 650 square foot home. My wife and I raised our 4 children in that home and remodeled it to a two-story home. The original ceilings were 11 foot high. When I begin remodeling you could see the old flooring that had been worn down by many years of people walking on it with boots etc. When I pulled the wallboard off you could still see the original green siding that is found in most train stations of that era.
Toy Man Television yes we sold it. The address is 560 North 2000 East. Just take 400 North towards Maple Canyon and it’s the last street before you reach the canyon.
That is so funny! After you posted that I went on Google Maps and started looking around and thought what can’t be over here can’t be over here I wonder if this is it right here yeah that’s the house I found! What are the odds?
uvjhamil yup. I’m looking at the trees! Just funny I found it!!!! We are heading to my nephews wedding Saturday in Springville so we are going to take a look 👀
As the crow flies this area is not but 900 to 1000 miles from the Bay Area. Yes, the news was as far west as San Francisco when all this happened. Once again caught this episode on ROKU which means our big screen TV. As always your production values were fantastic. Honestly, some folks "You Tube" videos do not "hold-up" on a larger TV. Yours, even your old VCR archives from a few episodes back are incredible. Been doing things I shouldn't, again, so it's off to the ROKU to catch-up on some vintage Toy Man Television. Might venture back when the Toy Man was a solo act. (Karyn's input fits your schtick, so well.) Looking forward to your next installment.
Thanks!! We are doing sound right now for the next show on the Marysvail branch line. Looking good!!! Thhen we hope to ride the train over the canyon. Hum......
Miss Karyn; I really do not know Dale all that well outside of his photography in train Mags. and, of course, his work on Toy Man. Trust me, You two fit like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Burns and Alan, etc. You balance the hubbies' efforts. I even cried at your wedding video. Nope, you guys are a team. So happy for you both. Carry on with the pursuit of this screwing around.
My favorite videos are: The Rat Fink Reunion... The first one, where Dale is driving the 67 blue Mustang... That one was the "Pilot"... if you will... that first introduced Dale and I. Toy Man had been visiting my neighborhood..and I wanted to know who he was!!! I loved all of the Big Boy shows, as they literally moved me to tears. Next was the story of Athol Graham, and his Salt Flats car. Dale's work on this show is very profound... I watch it over and over again to this day! The first time I appeared as "copilot" was in the" Organ Loft"! I was sooo nervous, yet honored to be sitting in the Toy Man rocket. I am usually on the picture taking end of the camera... but have a tendency to "fall apart" if someone aims a camera in my direction! LOL! It took me a few episodes to make friends with that little GoPro! LOL! The show really has evolved over the years.. and really tells it's own story, as it progresses. Fate brought Dale and I together. So.. those early shows will always hold a special place in my heart!! ... And they live happily ever after!!
Yeah that landslide was such a tragedy for so many people. And what a loss losing that train line. Of course Karyn grew up right on that line, and I come down to watch the trains run on a few occasions and even had a chance to tour the sheet rock facility and watch some loaded sheet rock onto flat cars.
So very interesting! Can't wait to see next week's episode! My cat Valentine wants to see the Rat Fink in the car. That's his favorite part of your show Dale & Karyn!
A little mud.. and a bit of sliding too! Stay tuned for next week, where we continue to explore my old "back yard" and the neighboring area where the trains once ran! :D
Gee, I don't remember this happening, but probably not well covered by the St. Louis TV stations. The great part, no one was injured or killed. Thanks for the history lesson.
Jack R I was in a similar flood in California and we had about two dozen people killed. This one just happened so slowly and build up so even leave that everyone was able to get out of the way of trouble
Hey, Jack! Seems that it is either feast or famine out here in the west. The Thistle slide disaster was crazy.. especially since we experience more drought than an abundance of moisture. I remember 1983 clearly, as my sister graduated from high school that year. We had so much snow and cold temperatures. Then one day... It just got HOT! She graduated toward the end of May. The nearby mountains were completely covered in snow... White clear to the bottom... and the day of her graduation.. 103 degrees in the town of Mt. Pleasant!! Do watch next Sunday's show... as we are heading to the area where I use to live... and where I grew up!! The main industry there is the turkey industry.. Everybody in the Sanpete Valley has worked at the local feed mill, or the turkey processing plant at one time, or another!!! Including myself!! Much like the area where you lived in PA!! :D
Hey, Karyn! An amazing turn around in temperatures! Good illustration that nature can accommodate the usual fluctuations, but when there's a dramatic change, things get dramatically out of balance! I will be watching with much interest! Thanks! :) Jack
Jack R It was the same when Oregon suffered a similar fate when practically an entire mountain fell in a landslide and destroyed Union Pacific's line in the Cascade Mountains in two places. Miraculously, no one was hurt in the landslide and not a single worker was hurt in Union Pacific's reconstruction of its line in the Cascades.
I and about a dozen friends were aboard the first Rio Grande Zephyr to not make it through to Salt Lake. On our way west, we were told about the Thistle disaster, just unfolding, and that we would be transported by bus from Grand Junction. So, instead of the famous brook trout dinner aboard the Zephyr, we had filet of fish sandwiches at the McDonald's in Helper, UT. Our intent was then to ride the first Amtrak train back to Denver over the Rio Grande the next day. Instead, our train went by the previous Amtrak route via Cheyenne.
That really sucked. The Train way almost Caught in a landslide. Stuck in Salt Lake City for months. I went down and looked at it several times, before turning in my tickets and getting my money back. It was never going to run again
6 these days. I was attending BYU when the mountain slid. First, flood insurance was available. I remember someone bought it and they had to wait 30 days before it was effective. Unfortunately, the flood got them first. I also recall tv news footage about someone catching a fish in one of the streams diverted down one of the streams. Maybe you could do a video about that and the attempt to move the overflowing water in the Great Salt Lake.
Ah the pumps!! After they failed I thought they should take them up in the mountains and build the BEST waterslide with them. 4000 foot vertical drop with a ski lift to get back to the top. Now that would be some screwing around. I bought flood insurance that year. There was the big push then to get people to sign up. Some new FEMA money and stuff. 10 years later they kicked me off the program for being too "low risk". What?????
WOW, I had no idea that happened out there. It's kind of a shame that it was demise of the DNRGW's last passenger train but, hey you can't stop mother nature she does what she wants sometimes. Very cool video as always and I'm glad I'm cool like every one else!!!! Also I'm finally turning 30 this year does that make me cooler since I'll no longer be in my 20's?
crystalrock18 it's possible to be cool at any age! Somewhat more challenging after you're 110, but then everything is more challenging after you're 110
This is true, I try to be as cool as I can all day everyday. Thanks for the sweet rail road videos. Y'all should come by Missouri we just lost the Rock Island line it got turned into another MKT walking trail. Cool thing s is though the central Midland Railway still uses about 62 mi of the line from Overland to my home town Union. the best part is the line runs right by the air port I work at so I get trains and planes all in a days work and I LOOOOVE IT!!
In Train Simulator on Utah's Soldier Summit line on Union Pacific's former Rio Grande, if you look to the right from your locomotive as you ascend the grade toward the twin tunnels near Thistle you can actually make out the damage that the landslide caused.
First - Utah Railway built their own track all the way to Provo. They did not stop in Thistle. However, the construction was partially paid for by the Denver & Rio Grande as part of the shared trackage agreement that they settled on, which is why Main 2 in Springville has Utah Railway heralds on its bridges and Main 1 has Rio Grande heralds. Also, the Denver & Rio Grande did not build into Spanish Fork Canyon until 1882. The railroad that was sort of built in the 1870s was the Utah & Pleasant Valley but it was only a grade with bits and pieces of track until the Rio Grande took it over in a bankruptcy auction.
I get it every which way from every person I talk to. I know their ORIGINAL plan was to build to Nephi, Helper to Thistle, then down the Maryvail to the grade of the Sanpete Railway to Nephi. But stopped in Thistle and made a deal with the Rio Grande to build - share and even for D and RGW to operate their railroad. to Provo. Right, the U and PV built the first grades. Always wiird as many of the major lines started as minor lines, often never finished. This is what we found on the Park City branch. Before the UP took it over it was several failed railroads, the first of them laid ties, but never rail as they could not afford to buy rail. But could make ties and get people to grade and lay the ties. Hard to make money on a road of ties.
It's no longer a swamp, it's now wetlands. It makes it easier to "protect" it. Not unlike renaming jungles to rainforests. "In the rainforest, the mighty rainforest, The lion sleeps tonight..."
These days when I find myself saying these days I gag on the words. Just never noticed how often I say that. Or said that. These days I'm more aware of saying it. These days. Or not.
The Rio Grande had already decided to turn its Passenger operations over to Amtrak. The slide/flood had NOTHING to do with it! Also, contrary to what was stated in the program, the train was NOT cancelled, it was annulled between Grand Junction, Colo. and Salt Lake City. I rode one of the last runs, and heard about Thistle from another railfan on the San Francisco Zephyr (which was the so-called replacement for the unreplaceable RGZ). We rode from Denver to Grand Jct, and then suffered on a bus to SLC. A sad end to a great train and a end of an Era. Aaron, Thistle was most certainly NOT the worst disaster in history, tragic yes, but there have been MANY worse disasters. I really do enjoy your shows, but PLEASE, do NOT talk over one another, it makes, at least for me, almost impossible to understand either of you!
Well...., as for counting "these days", I lost count. Or at least forgot to keep on counting "these days". Actually these days I am doing good to remember my head when I go out for the day. So, "these days" may have to wait for a better day for me, these days. Uh oh, I forgot where I was going with all of this "these days" thing. Oh well, that's pretty much how it is these days. Anyways, it was another great information vid and maybe I'll see ya'll down the road one of these days. Cheers, Dan
We will be continuing our journey next Sunday... to the area in Utah that I called "home"...." back-in-the-day.".... Loosing the Marysvale Branch was like loosing an old friend... the tracks, themselves, seemed to disappear over night... But...The grade still remains in many areas! :D
I was aboard the last train through the slide area, on April 14. The RG Zephyr creeped through the area surrounded by bulldozers and floodlights. The D&RG were working to get the passenger train through, and then just let the slide go. We woke up the next morning in out hotel, and the TV news announced that the rails were wiped out, the lead story. We called the depot wondering what was going to happen. Because we had return tickets to Denver, we rode back to Denver via the UP. The rest of the runs until the final day of April 25 ran only as far as Grand Junction. So glad we rode early, as we were on the last round-trip in and out of SLC.
Something is wrong here. As a subscriber, I would had thought that using "these days" for free was part of the package. These subscriber benefits are overrated! Anyway, I like the Rio Grande Zephyr. Any future show about it (or anything about Rio Grande normal gauge)?
I had some great footage of the Zephyr but alas... the tape is gone bad. SAD. However, there will be a show!!!! In 2 weeks I hope. May show some of the bad tape..
Thistle was the worst disaster in history. it destroyed Highway 6 and severed the Rio Grande forcing Rio Grande to abandon the Marysville Branch. Rio Grande and the Utah Highway Depart rebuilt and the end result was a new highway over Soldier Summit through Mount Billy and the famed Thistle Tunnel which sees 30 trains a day.
I know because they got out in time but it was a costly mistake Rio Grande did not repair their tracks and it lead to undercutting of the slope and on April 13th the mountain came down and destroyed Highway 6 and the Rio Grande. Utah and FEMA spent millions of dollars on the slide everyone who lived in Thistle when the mountain came down now lives in Mount Pleasant 15 miles away as for Thistle it is under 30 feet of water never to be rebuilt again.
Yup. And #6 was the last train through! Was then stuck in SLC, never to run on the D and RG again. Almost wrecked in the slide!!!! The ground was moving under the train as it went through.
"These day" or I like to say. "At the end of the day" One - hundred times. Maybe 😎 • Cheers from The Detroit Mackinac Railway • Pronounced: (mac-in-aw) 🚂
Just an idea for a video or more. Railroad tunnels and their histories. You can combine "massive screwing around" with being "boring." Pun painfully intended. :)
Toy Man, We Have A Winner! [drum roll please!] ((bit.ly/2oghoDW )) The count was about, "Seven" .... These Days!! You both, really do a wonderful job! "These Day's"... it's such a nice treat. (the best!) Cheers! :-)
Dale & Karyn : Fun Alert in Southern California! The Fullerton Railroad Days May 6th & 7th. www.fullertontrainmuseum.org Do check it out! I will definitely be there! Would love to see you both! Kerri the Merri
I remember this, after I left the railroad I went driving truck, I remember when I arrived almost at top of the hill, the paved road went to dirt, I thought what is this? Then I seen a bunch of people looking over the side, stopped the truck and walked over and asked what everyone was looking at. They said there was a landslide and there used to be town down there, there wasn't a town anymore. Later I heard all about this, someone was looking after these people to keep all safe.
Hi. Yes we followed this up by Chase in the grade all the way to the far end of Marysville. This was a disastrous flood. In some ways the economy of the county never did recover. Some of the businesses here like the salt mine in the sheet rock plant I’ve really had to struggle without a railroad.There is some good maps in the follow up show on the abandoned Marysville branch
Hi Dale and Karen, great job and wonderful content as usual 'these days'. I have finally watched what I believe to be all of the videos on the channel as clearly there has been time for some 'MASSIVE SCREWING AROUND' in my schedule as of late. Now I just can hardly wait for the new stuff on Friday, Sunday, occasionally foolishly Wednesdays. Anyway I digress... (he he) Who wouldn't want to win the use of 'these days' for an entire year! Without it, one would need to resort back to the cave man's 'thesaurus' that long extinct... To resurrect terms like' nowadays' and 'currently'.
Anyway, I've lost count... I hope you and the rest of the 'cool kids' who subscribe got a smile thinking about how not to get through the next year without the use of the term 'these days'. We may just need them... Thanks for everything you two. All the best, Peter
Peter Norkawich wow you made it through all of them! Now you even know how to cheat at Midway games. I really enjoy doing that show! We've been working most of the day on next week show for some reason it's just turning out to be really complicated. I guess we're just putting a lot into it that's all. But it's just a continuation of today's show. But after spending two days on the road shooting it it just seems like we should really do a fine job of editing it together so we been playing with it rather extensively.
I am from the area that we will be visiting in next weeks show! One of the things which brought Dale and I together... He had a house in Spring City, Utah... and I use to live there a few years ago... A beautiful area... rich with history, and beautiful old homes! :D
The two guys in the boat at 5:31 were me and my best friend. He called me one night and asked me if I wanted to ferry workers with him at the slide. He told me to bring a hardhat and a lunchbox and nobody would bother me, which they didn't. We hauled workers to and from the dam and wherever the water had reached up US 6. That only happened when we got there in the morning and 12 hrs later in the afternoon. In between we did whatever we wanted. We found that we were pretty popular and had many people wanting us to take them around. We hauled people from Time Magazine, Denver Post, and others. Lot's of film boxes in the bottom of the boat. We picked up a group who looked pretty important on US 6 and took them to the dam. They all jumped off and then one older guy in a cowboy hat jumped back in because he forgot a hardhat. We told him it didn't matter and he said " it does when your the national inspector from OSHA. We laughed and he said "show me around". We took him up the Birdseye side and then on the way back around we hit a submerged power line with the prop and about lost him out the front of the boat. He stood up and gave a big yell, he told us he was having a blast. One thing we saw a few times was telephone poles shooting up out of the water. What a day! Kyle 801-380-1802
I live in a little town over that mountain on frame7:11 / 14:10, You mentioned in your video that the area we're looking at is stable. The ground between the three rock bluffs on the left of the screen and the Single Bluff to the right about three quarters of the way through the picture, Is moving soil just like the Thistle slide. It could happen again. I'm writing this march 30'th ,2023. We have a snowpack heavier this year than it was in nineteen eighty two eighty three winter. A lot of that mountain range was in a forest fire 6 , 7 years ago. There is a probability of debris flows from the burns scars. As well as soil movement.
Wow yes!! Expect it to slide. Spanish Fork is notorious for it. Thousands of years Millions. Slide after slide!!
I was military then, we flew helicopters in to evacuate personal effects and cut fences to let livestock escape to higher ground. A personal friend of mine owned a ranch there, it was he who first noticed the RR tracks had been warped out of position. He called the rail road and told them to stop the trains. And that's how it all began.
A friend of mine was the locomotive engineer on the Rio Grande Zephyr. Last train through before the tracks went out of shape
It's fun to go back and watch these older videos. Thanks for the memories kiddos...
This was a fun one to do. Sad story but fun trip.
I was a little kid back then but it still shows you the power of Mother Nature what she can do at times throughout the year.
We really see that now in California. Horror.
Great video. My father, Vern Tucker, worked for H. E. Lowdermilk Construction out of their regional HQ between Helper and Price Utah. He was often called out to help with train derailments and the like as he was a bulldozer operator. And again he was called out when the Thistle Slide happened. He worked dozens of hours in the rain and damp to help build up the mudslide so it would not collapse.
Sadly after it was over he never recovered health wise from the ordeal. Although healthy his entire life he became bedridden from the ordeal and died the following December in a Salt Lake hospital. He was 53.
That is why your video caught my eye as I read and view articles and films about the Thistle Flood from time to time.
Wow that is quite a story. So many stories we wanted to go into all of this but then the movie would’ve been three days long! One of our friends is locomotive engineer on Amtrak, and he was running the Rio Grande Zephyr which was the last train through before the tracks went out. As they were approaching the slide area they could see that the tracks were distorted! They radioed in there was a problem and then went very slowly through the problem area and then behind them they could see the tracks visually rising! So the Rio Grande zephyr was the last train through and ended up stranded on the other side. And never ran over the line again. Today the locomotives are in the Colorado Railroad museum in golden. Also there’s a hill right in the middle of thistle. Whoever settled the area dubbed it island! And after the thistle slide it actually became an island! Now it’s back to being a hill so perhaps they should change its name from island to Hill. That’s an amazing story about your father. It really tragic, he was so young. They always say no one was hurt in the slide, but I guess that’s just a matter of perspective isn’t it
You 2 are a hoot! I enjoy listening to you talking in the car. That’s some serious skills right there, the way you 2 converse it’s beautiful really, it’s clear you know each other a lot more than well, and you love each other. Thanks for sharing your energy and talents with this video.
Thanks for the upload. Good explanation and cover of the slide, and the concequences.
All the best.
Thanks!!!!
Finally I'm up to the video that started my toy man journey. I went back to the beginning and have now seen them all up to this point. Can't wait to see them all.
Jacob Barlow and they keep coming! Sunday Saltair!
It’s really turned out to be an amazing show I’ll 20 minutes of it
I worked on a Signal gang for the D&RG railroad on nearly every inch of the mainline from Denver to Salt Lake City. And I remember working that section in and thru the town of Thistle in 1975. Its strange to me to know that it is all gone now due to that large landslide. I remember sitting in the Thistle section shed with the gang early one morning getting warm around the big pot belly stove they had in there before we went out to work on the pole line and string some new signal wires.
That old section shed in Thistle had been built out of railroad ties and was bigger and much thicker than most section sheds but the thing I remember was how strongly it smelled of hundred year old coal soot and creosote. Funny the things you remember about a place. Haha. Another odd thing that happened in Thistle was we (the gang) went into a tiny gas station early one morning to fill up the gang truck and buy cigarettes and as we were walking out a couple guys were standing around a pickup truck talking and they said they had a mountain lion in back of the truck and asked if we wanted to see it. Well of course the answer was hell yes. I think we all just assumed the guy meant they had a dead mountain lion and you bet we wanted to see it so we step over to the truck and this guy pulls back a tarp he had in the back and under the tarp was a live mountain lion with its feet bound and a large stick in its mouth. When he pulled that tarp back the lion naturally tried to raise up and it hissed really loudly with a low growling sound. I'm telling you we all about crapped our pants and couldn't jump back quick enough! This was one unhappy lion! I'll never forget how quick evervbody jumped back at the site of it. The first thought was -what the hell are you doing with a live lion??!! ..and how the hell did you catch it to tie it up like that?!!! The guy threw the tarp back over the lion and said they caught it in a makeshift live trap they had made and managed to tie it up thru the bars. They said they poked the lion with a big stick thru the cage and when they did the lion chomped down on it and broke it in half. That stick was about as big around as your forearm...anyway they said the lion wouldn't let go of the stick in its rage and it made it easier to get a rope around its four legs with another stick.
If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it but its a true story...so the landslide story for me is only second best about the tiny town of Thistle, Utah! I can still see that lion with that stick in its mouth in my mind and its been 45 years ago now! Unreal! ":-0
Now that is an amazing story! When I was a kid there was a guy who had a gas station just up the block who had a pet bobcat. Pet is a relative expression in that he kept it in a cage and consider that a pet but you sure wouldn’t want to touch it or you lose a finger! Anyway that same guy had 12 inch life steam on a rail road with another guy that was really cool.
He also had a llama. For a while at least he kept it tied up in front of his gas station to see if people would come in and buy gas. I don’t think these days you could get away with a thing like that.
No speaking of thistle I showed pictures of Train number six, better known as the Rio Grande Zephyr, that survived from the old California Zephyr. A close friend of mine was Engeneer on the last run. And as they were approaching Thistle they could see that there were problems with the track but everything seemed OK, but clearly something was amiss. It any rate they decided it was safe to proceed and they did but after they crossed through the area of the slide they could see behind the train the tracks were slowly rising up! The weird thing about the thistle slide is at first it was underground. So the highway and the tracks and everything were just slowly moving up. And once they were about 3 feet above where they normally would be the whole thing started to rupture and mud started going all over the place. At any rate Train number six ended up stranded in Salt Lake City with no way to get back to Denver. It stayed in the Salt Lake yards for months. We will go down there just to sort of look at it. And then one day they got permission to take it over the union pacific back to its home in Denver. The locomotives are now at the Colorado state railroad museum in Golden Colorado and the cars are all in private collections. Its last revenue run was over that slowly rising track.
Y’all wrote a whole Fliping essay for my fifth grade English teacher
Thank you so much for the time and energy you put in to these videos. They are as informative as they are interesting. They are beautifully produced and they really offer a glimps of history not found in books or classes. Thank you again.
I learn a lot just form doing these shows! Nothing like standing in the actual presence of where history was made! Thanks! :D
another wonderful telling of relevant history. a map would help for those of us not in Utah. keep up the great work!
the map is in next weeks show! Just finishing it up now. AND may go back in the show after that as well, trying to get a cab ride over the hill.
Toy Man Television thanks!
My wife and I rode the D&RGW from SLC to Grand Junction (and back) in Dec. 1981, so I guess we rode through Thistle before the slide hit. At the time, the D&RGW had a chef cooking in the Restaurant Car, and I surprised my wife by ordering "Fresh Rocky Mountain Trout" -- I almost never eat fish, but I couldn't pass that one up. Rode back from Grand Junction to SLC on 12/31/1981, expected to celebrate New Year's Eve in the Lounge Car, but our plans got frustrated -- they removed the Lounge Car at Grand Junction because of a smoking bearing on one of the train's wheels. We figured we'd be able to hurry to the AMTRAK lounge Car once we boarded at Ogden and get in a quick drink to celebrate the new year, but that got frustrated too -- AMTRAK was four hours late coming out of Chicago, due to heavy snow on the great plains. Sitting in the Ogden Station (which was an absolutely glorious example of a train station) about 11:50 that night, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony when I heard someone's AM radio playing "Midnight, and I'm a-waiting on the twelve-oh-five, hoping it'll take me just a little farther down the line". Stuck in the driest state in the USA on NYE, and I couldn't even find a convenience store to buy a six-pack. There are times when my life seems like a Country & Western song. There was one unexpected benefit to our delay: there was fresh snowfall in the Sierras, and we were able to see Donner Lake, just as pretty as a postcard, during daylight, instead of passing through that area in the darkness of early morning.
By the way, I've seen the results of a bigger landslide: The Hope Slide, at Johnson Peak, near Hope, British Columbia, 1965. I passed through there about 1972 or so, as a teenager, travelling with my grandparents. The Wikipedia entry gives some absolutely astonishing statistics related to the event. Check Google Maps (49.302863, -121.260247), you can still see the scar on the side of the mountain.
That was a great ride!!!! I took it when ever I could. Had tickets for the last run, but the Zephyr was the last train through as the slide hit. Actually went OVER the moving grade!! Then was trapped west of the slide. Weeks later they took it over the UP empty and gave me back the money for the trip!! I went down to Roper yard several times to see it just parked on the old Park City branch. Sat there for weeks. Never ran on the Rio Grand again. Engine is now at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Miss the rainbow trout. Miss the ride.....
:)
Nice ride and explanation of the Thistle Slide, I had never heard of it till now...... THX again........
:)
Be sure to watch pt 2, the destroyed Marysvale branch. Beautiful trip...
I enjoyed your narrative of the Thistle Landslide. My rail employment brought me to Denver between 1994 and 1997. I worked at the Rio Grande Building on Lincoln Street (although the building had "Southern Pacific" signage on the exterior). One day one of the managers spoke of the landslide. He had arrived at the site shortly after the occurrence. I knew that the D&RGW had almost immediately begun construction of the bypass around Thistle. I asked how the railroad had been able to take possession of the land for the bypass so quickly. He replied that the property owners (likely they were all ranchers) were offered incredibly large sums of money up-front so the railroad could take immediate possession of the land for the new right-of-way. That is how they did it. Further, he advised that the senior engineering manager for the Utah highways visited the railroad's construction site and was blown-away by the railroad's quick response. The engineering manager advised that they he had not yet submitted their Impact Statement for the flooding of the U.S. highways.
Wonderful video, looks and sounds really professional. You make anything interesting, and possess what must be one of the best narrator voices on the planet. Thank you both for doing this and sharing it with us, it's such a treat. Looking forward to some more massive screwing around next week. :)
ThaNKS!! We are back here to run down the Marysvail line all the way to the south end.
Thanks for sharing this. My dad Jim Ozment was the Division Engineer for the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad when this happened. What an disaster and adventure it was.
Enjoyed the history!! Thank you!!
Thanks for watching
Just a little background, in 1991 I took the Amtrak Train from Chicago to Reno. Part of the trip talked about the “Thistle Slide” as you passed by. But it left me with more questions than answers. As Paul Harvey would have said, “Now You Know the Rest of the Story”.
Beautifully covered! I had forgotten the incident until seeing this. I was volunteering for the fire department at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA when it occurred. Our special strike team (Poly Pyrotechnics) was on standby to go back there and help out. We never got the call. There was little coverage in the news out here, so I'm glad you two took the time to revisit the area. I got chills watching this and immediate wondered "what if we had gone?". At 27 years old, then, I'm sure I would have been shocked beyond belief.
Randall Hawkinson It was a shock, indeed! Mother Nature sure has a way of changing the contour of the land when she chooses to do so.. and often, we are powerless to do anything about it!
My wife spent 7 years in Thistle with her mom and dad. He worked for the Denver and Rio Grande Western as a Section Hand and Supervisor. They moved to Ogden when her dad got "bumped" by another employee and ended up working for the Union Pacific. We met in New Mexico (they had moved to Cimarron NM for her parent's health). After we were married, we moved them back to Ogden in April 1981 and made a couple of trips up there to visit in 1982. We were in Perryton, TX when I saw the mess in Thistle. I told my wife and she came over to see what was happening. She burst into tears. She still gets teary-eyed when we would pass through there. One summer, we stopped to see her folks old place. The house was gone; it floated away. All that was left was the electric pole with the electric meter still attached. I took her dad down there after the water in the lake was drained. He got all choked up. He showed me where he worked and we visited several sites. We fished in the stream and caught a couple of rainbow trout. We put them on ice and took them home. He told my mother-in-law and she wept a little. My wife has many wonderful childhood memories that she shared with me.
That’s a great story. It’s really sad that that happened. I went there right after they drained the flood. Mud. About 6 to 8 feet deep. You need to be careful where you stepped. The railroad signals were sticking out of the mud. Only about 8 feet tall sticking out of the mud.
Wow, what a mess that was. Thanks for another good show.
Tom Klock and still cleaning the mess up to this day. It's worse than a teenager's bedroom
It sure was a mess! And the area flooding continued into 1984! Then... as is typical in the state of Utah.. We reversed to our usual drought condition. Of course.. that brings on the threat of wild fires! In June of 2012, the Wood Hollow fire caused the evacuation of the towns Indianola, Milburn, Hideaway/ Blackhawk Estates, and the town of Fairview. these towns are just south of Thistle. That ended up being the most expensive fire in the state of Utah, with 47,387 acres burned at nearly 6,000,000 dollars.
Unbelievable. Thanks for the info!
Love you guys thanks for sharing
you are welcome!
Wow another really interesting show by you. Cheers my friend thankyou
WEUSANDCORR thanks. Part 2 almost done!! Tomorrow should be finished!! Good one too!!
Great video, as usual. Thanks, guys!
Thank You for watching!
Another great look back at history. Thanks
That line about trying to remember that house in the water used to be someone's house they would have Christmas in every year... The first time I watched this video my 5 year old was watching, since then she's always told whoever we're with when we pass it that people used to have Christmas there. I thought it was cute.
That’s great! Grand that she remembered. Good feelings in old homes.
Your wife seems to be a real nice person, comforting a railroad fanatic. Wish mine was more sympathetic.
My dad was the last vehicle they let through that morning. He was in a semi truck with a tanker load heading to the power plant. The road was all buckled but he krept through.
20 minutes later he heard that the mountain came down.
A few years later he took me on the same run in his semi and showed me the houses on the side of the freeway burried in the mud.
Aired down and disconnected hi. Wow. A friend ran the last train through, the Rio Grande Zephyr. They could see the ground moving. Slowly.
Very cool video, I did one myself about thistle a few months ago. I drive through there every day. I love that area.
Did you see the second half? The destroyed Marysville branch? th-cam.com/video/g8mGraY7-Vc/w-d-xo.html
Do you have a link to yours?
@@ToyManTelevision Sure!
th-cam.com/video/zUtln8UrJZk/w-d-xo.html
Jacob Barlow thanks!! Cool video.
what a great adventure in the history is fascinating the family and I are taking a vacation to the Grand Canyon Four Corners and Vegas trying to talk to wife into going up to Utah it's like pulling teeth without anesthetic once again sir thank you for your knowledge and expertise and you're great adventures
Come on ahead but BYOB. (joke) If you make Vegas it's not too far to St George and up to Zion Canyon. WOW!!!
My Dad and I were chasing trains in Colorado the day the slide wiped out the D&RGW tracks. We were at the rail crossing at Blue Mountain, (near Plainview, CO and the mouth of Coal Creek Canyon.) when a freight came by. It started up the grade to Tunnel 1 and then just shut down.... The train blocked the crossing and we were stuck at the crossing till helpers from Denver showed up to take the train back to Denver. My Uncle was a Regional big shot with FEMA at the time and he was put in charge of the slide area.
What a mess. Last train through was the Zephyr. And the ground was already moving. But they got it through. Then it was stuck on the west side of the slide until they took it over UP back to Denver. Last run ever of 5771 on that line. Sad.
This is a great video. I would have been 2 years old when this happened. I have driven through Thistle many times. Not a boring movie at all :-) I remember wondering what happened to this town the first time I saw the old schoolhouse, and submerged houses. It was so sad to see, and I wanted to research the history to find out just what happened. Then about 8 years ago, I read some history that Norma Sumsion had put together, but I didn't have the full story. This really is quite helpful. Thanks!
For us it seems like yesterday. Sad. The old school was great. But after the flood people started looting it. Not much left at all.
One other addition/correction. The Utah Railway actually owns one of the tracks between Thistle and Provo. The Utah and the Rio Grande agreed to operate their two separate, but parallel lines, as joint trackage. The Utah also receive rights over the Rio Grande between Utah Rwy Jct. (RR west of Helper) and Thistle instead of building their own line as they had originally planned. I reconfirmed this on Don Stack's indispensable UtahRail (dot) Net website. Please consider this as more of an addition to your very enjoyable program, rather then criticism!. Looking forward to watching your Marysvale and Park City programs!
The Thistle train station was moved to Mapleton Utah in 1952 and was converted to a 650 square foot home. My wife and I raised our 4 children in that home and remodeled it to a two-story home. The original ceilings were 11 foot high. When I begin remodeling you could see the old flooring that had been worn down by many years of people walking on it with boots etc. When I pulled the wallboard off you could still see the original green siding that is found in most train stations of that era.
Wow. I guess you are no longer there? Is I still standing? If so do you know the address?
Toy Man Television yes we sold it. The address is 560 North 2000 East. Just take 400 North towards Maple Canyon and it’s the last street before you reach the canyon.
That is so funny! After you posted that I went on Google Maps and started looking around and thought what can’t be over here can’t be over here I wonder if this is it right here yeah that’s the house I found! What are the odds?
Couple of huge pine trees in front pretty much obscure the view but it’s still there.
uvjhamil yup. I’m looking at the trees! Just funny I found it!!!! We are heading to my nephews wedding Saturday in Springville so we are going to take a look 👀
Great video...tyvm
As the crow flies this area is not but 900 to 1000 miles from the Bay Area. Yes, the news was as far west as San Francisco when all this happened. Once again caught this episode on ROKU which means our big screen TV. As always your production values were fantastic. Honestly, some folks "You Tube" videos do not "hold-up" on a larger TV. Yours, even your old VCR archives from a few episodes back are incredible. Been doing things I shouldn't, again, so it's off to the ROKU to catch-up on some vintage Toy Man Television. Might venture back when the Toy Man was a solo act. (Karyn's input fits your schtick, so well.) Looking forward to your next installment.
Jeanne Uzar I actually think Toy Man was much better as a solo act... But I have my own reasons for that, LOL!
Thanks!! We are doing sound right now for the next show on the Marysvail branch line. Looking good!!! Thhen we hope to ride the train over the canyon. Hum......
Miss Karyn; I really do not know Dale all that well outside of his photography in train Mags. and, of course, his work on Toy Man. Trust me, You two fit like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Burns and Alan, etc. You balance the hubbies' efforts. I even cried at your wedding video. Nope, you guys are a team. So happy for you both. Carry on with the pursuit of this screwing around.
My favorite videos are: The Rat Fink Reunion... The first one, where Dale is driving the 67 blue Mustang... That one was the "Pilot"... if you will... that first introduced Dale and I. Toy Man had been visiting my neighborhood..and I wanted to know who he was!!! I loved all of the Big Boy shows, as they literally moved me to tears. Next was the story of Athol Graham, and his Salt Flats car. Dale's work on this show is very profound... I watch it over and over again to this day! The first time I appeared as "copilot" was in the" Organ Loft"! I was sooo nervous, yet honored to be sitting in the Toy Man rocket. I am usually on the picture taking end of the camera... but have a tendency to "fall apart" if someone aims a camera in my direction! LOL! It took me a few episodes to make friends with that little GoPro! LOL!
The show really has evolved over the years.. and really tells it's own story, as it progresses. Fate brought Dale and I together. So.. those early shows will always hold a special place in my heart!! ... And they live happily ever after!!
Thank you for sharing those times, with all of us Sunday Travelers on the Animated Red Rocket.
I remember as a 5 yr old really missing the trains when they stopped coming through Ephraim. Great Video, this brought back so many memories.
Yeah that landslide was such a tragedy for so many people. And what a loss losing that train line. Of course Karyn grew up right on that line, and I come down to watch the trains run on a few occasions and even had a chance to tour the sheet rock facility and watch some loaded sheet rock onto flat cars.
So very interesting! Can't wait to see next week's episode! My cat Valentine wants to see the Rat Fink in the car. That's his favorite part of your show Dale & Karyn!
Thanks for sharing - an awesome recap of this significant event!
Great video, love the history of the canyon.
Thanks!! On to Marysvail!
another cracking video!!!
Thanks!!! Jolly good fun!
A little mud.. and a bit of sliding too! Stay tuned for next week, where we continue to explore my old "back yard" and the neighboring area where the trains once ran! :D
Wow didn’t know that happened, but another information piece
You guys are you the only ones who can get away with screwing around lol!!!!! :)
Gee, I don't remember this happening, but probably not well covered by the St. Louis TV stations. The great part, no one was injured or killed. Thanks for the history lesson.
The losses in dollars were staggering. But little coverage as it was in the middle of nowhere and no one was hurt. Thankfully.
So amazing that no one was hurt or injured! :) Jack
Jack R I was in a similar flood in California and we had about two dozen people killed. This one just happened so slowly and build up so even leave that everyone was able to get out of the way of trouble
Hey, Jack! Seems that it is either feast or famine out here in the west. The Thistle slide disaster was crazy.. especially since we experience more drought than an abundance of moisture. I remember 1983 clearly, as my sister graduated from high school that year. We had so much snow and cold temperatures. Then one day... It just got HOT! She graduated toward the end of May. The nearby mountains were completely covered in snow... White clear to the bottom... and the day of her graduation.. 103 degrees in the town of Mt. Pleasant!!
Do watch next Sunday's show... as we are heading to the area where I use to live... and where I grew up!! The main industry there is the turkey industry.. Everybody in the Sanpete Valley has worked at the local feed mill, or the turkey processing plant at one time, or another!!! Including myself!! Much like the area where you lived in PA!! :D
Hey, Karyn! An amazing turn around in temperatures! Good illustration that nature can accommodate the usual fluctuations, but when there's a dramatic change, things get dramatically out of balance! I will be watching with much interest! Thanks! :) Jack
Jack R It was the same when Oregon suffered a similar fate when practically an entire mountain fell in a landslide and destroyed Union Pacific's line in the Cascade Mountains in two places. Miraculously, no one was hurt in the landslide and not a single worker was hurt in Union Pacific's reconstruction of its line in the Cascades.
Toy Man Television This was in January of 2008, about 25 years after the Thistle Landslide.
Good Job Toyman:)
thanks!
Watched it again, Dale, and it was even better the second time! How do you do that?
I and about a dozen friends were aboard the first Rio Grande Zephyr to not make it through to Salt Lake. On our way west, we were told about the Thistle disaster, just unfolding, and that we would be transported by bus from Grand Junction. So, instead of the famous brook trout dinner aboard the Zephyr, we had filet of fish sandwiches at the McDonald's in Helper, UT. Our intent was then to ride the first Amtrak train back to Denver over the Rio Grande the next day. Instead, our train went by the previous Amtrak route via Cheyenne.
That really sucked. The Train way almost Caught in a landslide. Stuck in Salt Lake City for months. I went down and looked at it several times, before turning in my tickets and getting my money back. It was never going to run again
6 these days. I was attending BYU when the mountain slid. First, flood insurance was available. I remember someone bought it and they had to wait 30 days before it was effective. Unfortunately, the flood got them first. I also recall tv news footage about someone catching a fish in one of the streams diverted down one of the streams. Maybe you could do a video about that and the attempt to move the overflowing water in the Great Salt Lake.
Ah the pumps!! After they failed I thought they should take them up in the mountains and build the BEST waterslide with them. 4000 foot vertical drop with a ski lift to get back to the top. Now that would be some screwing around. I bought flood insurance that year. There was the big push then to get people to sign up. Some new FEMA money and stuff. 10 years later they kicked me off the program for being too "low risk". What?????
We do want to get out to the Great Salt Lake... Lots of artifacts there... as well as the memory of the "pumping project"... :D
Toy Man Television
I like the "roller coasters" built on ski slopes. There must be some in Utah.
Yup THe Alpine Slide in Park City and the Olympic Bob Sled which converts to carts in the summer. I think there is one other as well.
YES! We call it I-15!! Everybody forgets how to drive on snow... and they just want to drive FAST!
WOW, I had no idea that happened out there. It's kind of a shame that it was demise of the DNRGW's last passenger train but, hey you can't stop mother nature she does what she wants sometimes. Very cool video as always and I'm glad I'm cool like every one else!!!!
Also I'm finally turning 30 this year does that make me cooler since I'll no longer be in my 20's?
crystalrock18 it's possible to be cool at any age! Somewhat more challenging after you're 110, but then everything is more challenging after you're 110
This is true, I try to be as cool as I can all day everyday. Thanks for the sweet rail road videos. Y'all should come by Missouri we just lost the Rock Island line it got turned into another MKT walking trail. Cool thing s is though the central Midland Railway still uses about 62 mi of the line from Overland to my home town Union. the best part is the line runs right by the air port I work at so I get trains and planes all in a days work and I LOOOOVE IT!!
Hummmmm..... When I was in my 20's... I was always trying to look more like I was in my 30's............. I'm still trying to do that! :/
Spring of '83 was also when there was big flooding on Tehachapi between Caliente and Ilmon.
Do you have anything about the old railroad grade and tunnel between Elberta and Eureka area?
Nope. We have been out there several times but have not done a show as yet. We want to do the live steam railroad near there.
I was just curious to maybe know a little bit more about it was all and thanks for the response.
The BNSFs lease over this line was originally signed with the D&RGW, not the UP.
Hum... I know its part of the UP take over deal. Don't know much about it. Anything really. Just that they run there.
Bin watching many yrs. I have gotten cancer 6 yrs ago and saw my health decline, I noticed you are not driving - how are you?
At this moment I was recovering from a pacemaker. Since a new hip and in a few weeks cataract surgery in both eyes. Ah this getting old... stay well
In Train Simulator on Utah's Soldier Summit line on Union Pacific's former Rio Grande, if you look to the right from your locomotive as you ascend the grade toward the twin tunnels near Thistle you can actually make out the damage that the landslide caused.
That is a GREAT "game".
My daddy grew up there my grandpa lost almost everything. Then moved to birdseye. Used to go there all the time.
Exceleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeent
First - Utah Railway built their own track all the way to Provo. They did not stop in Thistle. However, the construction was partially paid for by the Denver & Rio Grande as part of the shared trackage agreement that they settled on, which is why Main 2 in Springville has Utah Railway heralds on its bridges and Main 1 has Rio Grande heralds. Also, the Denver & Rio Grande did not build into Spanish Fork Canyon until 1882. The railroad that was sort of built in the 1870s was the Utah & Pleasant Valley but it was only a grade with bits and pieces of track until the Rio Grande took it over in a bankruptcy auction.
I get it every which way from every person I talk to. I know their ORIGINAL plan was to build to Nephi, Helper to Thistle, then down the Maryvail to the grade of the Sanpete Railway to Nephi. But stopped in Thistle and made a deal with the Rio Grande to build - share and even for D and RGW to operate their railroad. to Provo. Right, the U and PV built the first grades. Always wiird as many of the major lines started as minor lines, often never finished. This is what we found on the Park City branch. Before the UP took it over it was several failed railroads, the first of them laid ties, but never rail as they could not afford to buy rail. But could make ties and get people to grade and lay the ties. Hard to make money on a road of ties.
It's no longer a swamp, it's now wetlands. It makes it easier to "protect" it. Not unlike renaming jungles to rainforests.
"In the rainforest, the mighty rainforest,
The lion sleeps tonight..."
Someone drained the swamp. Or claimed they did. By changing the name. I guess it depends on what the meaning of is is.
Awesome video. I counted 8 times :-)
Yup. It hit me after I recorded it, brain stuck in a rut I guess.
no worries we all have our fav saying that we repeat.
These days when I find myself saying these days I gag on the words. Just never noticed how often I say that. Or said that. These days I'm more aware of saying it. These days. Or not.
These days......ANOTHER WINNER!!!
Didn't realize that the Zephyr was discontinued at the same time, and as a result of the slide.
The Rio Grande had already decided to turn its Passenger operations over to Amtrak. The slide/flood had NOTHING to do with it! Also, contrary to what was stated in the program, the train was NOT cancelled, it was annulled between Grand Junction, Colo. and Salt Lake City. I rode one of the last runs, and heard about Thistle from another railfan on the San Francisco Zephyr (which was the so-called replacement for the unreplaceable RGZ). We rode from Denver to Grand Jct, and then suffered on a bus to SLC. A sad end to a great train and a end of an Era. Aaron, Thistle was most certainly NOT the worst disaster in history, tragic yes, but there have been MANY worse disasters. I really do enjoy your shows, but PLEASE, do NOT talk over one another, it makes, at least for me, almost impossible to understand either of you!
Ah yes .... 1983.
I remember people kayaking down state street and people catching trout on state street.
there was a stream through a store in Sugarhouse!!
Well...., as for counting "these days", I lost count. Or at least forgot to keep on counting "these days". Actually these days I am doing good to remember my head when I go out for the day. So, "these days" may have to wait for a better day for me, these days. Uh oh, I forgot where I was going with all of this "these days" thing. Oh well, that's pretty much how it is these days. Anyways, it was another great information vid and maybe I'll see ya'll down the road one of these days. Cheers, Dan
We will be continuing our journey next Sunday... to the area in Utah that I called "home"...." back-in-the-day.".... Loosing the Marysvale Branch was like loosing an old friend... the tracks, themselves, seemed to disappear over night... But...The grade still remains in many areas! :D
I was aboard the last train through the slide area, on April 14. The RG Zephyr creeped through the area surrounded by bulldozers and floodlights. The D&RG were working to get the passenger train through, and then just let the slide go. We woke up the next morning in out hotel, and the TV news announced that the rails were wiped out, the lead story. We called the depot wondering what was going to happen. Because we had return tickets to Denver, we rode back to Denver via the UP. The rest of the runs until the final day of April 25 ran only as far as Grand Junction. So glad we rode early, as we were on the last round-trip in and out of SLC.
And Mike here on the channel was your Engeneer!!
Something is wrong here. As a subscriber, I would had thought that using "these days" for free was part of the package. These subscriber benefits are overrated!
Anyway, I like the Rio Grande Zephyr. Any future show about it (or anything about Rio Grande normal gauge)?
The biggest benefit of being a subscriber is the cost of the subscription is tax deferred. You don't pay taxes on it until you stop screwing around.
That's good, as I don't plan to stop screwing around.
I had some great footage of the Zephyr but alas... the tape is gone bad. SAD. However, there will be a show!!!! In 2 weeks I hope. May show some of the bad tape..
Too bad the tape is bad. But it's great that you can still to a show.
Thistle was the worst disaster in history. it destroyed Highway 6 and severed the Rio Grande forcing Rio Grande to abandon the Marysville Branch. Rio Grande and the Utah Highway Depart rebuilt and the end result was a new highway over Soldier Summit through Mount Billy and the famed Thistle Tunnel which sees 30 trains a day.
No one hurt, thank goodness! But a huge cost and loss of income which is still going on.San Pete still suffering.
I know because they got out in time but it was a costly mistake Rio Grande did not repair their tracks and it lead to undercutting of the slope and on April 13th the mountain came down and destroyed Highway 6 and the Rio Grande. Utah and FEMA spent millions of dollars on the slide everyone who lived in Thistle when the mountain came down now lives in Mount Pleasant 15 miles away as for Thistle it is under 30 feet of water never to be rebuilt again.
Yup. And #6 was the last train through! Was then stuck in SLC, never to run on the D and RG again. Almost wrecked in the slide!!!! The ground was moving under the train as it went through.
#6 did return to the line years later after they repaired it.
The Zephyr? It sat in SLC of week, or weeks, then over the UP back to Denver. Never made the scheduled final runs. SAD as I had a ticket.
We watched your video in class.:l
"These day" or I like to say. "At the end of the day" One - hundred times. Maybe 😎
• Cheers from The Detroit Mackinac Railway • Pronounced: (mac-in-aw) 🚂
Just an idea for a video or more. Railroad tunnels and their histories. You can combine "massive screwing around" with being "boring." Pun painfully intended. :)
Just ripped off your pun for the next show!!
You can't beat that for a compliment. :)
40 years ago and the town of Thidtle Utah ain t ever been rebuilt
Nope. And still a swamp. Sad.
Toy Man, We Have A Winner! [drum roll please!] ((bit.ly/2oghoDW ))
The count was about, "Seven" .... These Days!!
You both, really do a wonderful job! "These Day's"... it's such a nice treat. (the best!)
Cheers! :-)
that is one long drum roll!!
Yeah, the extended drum roll!! The Shorter Version! Drum Roll, with Cymbals Crash! ((bit.ly/2oWNumC ))
Dale & Karyn : Fun Alert in Southern California! The Fullerton Railroad Days May 6th & 7th. www.fullertontrainmuseum.org
Do check it out! I will definitely be there! Would love to see you both!
Kerri the Merri
Not so good at counting these days :3
Wow! Mother Nature can be cruel!
No kidding. Hope we are not heading for another spring like that one.
I remember this, after I left the railroad I went driving truck, I remember when I arrived almost at top of the hill, the paved road went to dirt, I thought what is this? Then I seen a bunch of people looking over the side, stopped the truck and walked over and asked what everyone was looking at. They said there was a landslide and there used to be town down there, there wasn't a town anymore. Later I heard all about this, someone was looking after these people to keep all safe.
Someone just sent me a photo of the school before the flood. Not much left today.
8
About 6 too many. These days I notice these things....
Very assuming viewers knowledgeable about Utah."Next week?"
Hi. Yes we followed this up by Chase in the grade all the way to the far end of Marysville. This was a disastrous flood. In some ways the economy of the county never did recover. Some of the businesses here like the salt mine in the sheet rock plant I’ve really had to struggle without a railroad.There is some good maps in the follow up show on the abandoned Marysville branch
I got 8 Also these days.
LOL
WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!! :D
I will run it by the mrs. she really don't like it when I had curveballs to the game
Too many.
stan soroka LOL!😂
I think only about 6 too many. The first and last ones are brilliant. This is what happens by never writing anything down.