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Sabotage causes the derailment of an Amtrak passenger train.   CASE DETAILS  On October 9, 1995, 60 miles southwest of Phoenix, Arizona, Amtrak’s “Sunset Limited” passenger train jumped the track going 50 mph. Four cars plunged more than 30 feet off a trestle into a dry riverbed. One person was killed and scores injured. The cause of the wreck: sabotage. According to Bruce Gebhardt, special agent in charge with the F.B.I., agents on the scene found rails that had been tampered with:
Additional evidence convinced authorities that the saboteurs knew a lot about railroads. The signal circuits, the electrical wires that run through the track, had been kept intact. According to Agent Gebhardt, that meant the train crew had no warning that there was a problem with the rails:
 Investigators soon discovered many similarities to another act of sabotage, more than a half century before. According to historian Kevin Bunker, in 1939, 24 people were killed and 117 injured in another suspicious train wreck in the Nevada desert:
Curiously, the story of the 1939 crash had been published in a journal for train buffs shortly before the Amtrak accident. Federal agents questioned many of the readers, but came up empty-handed.  Investigators have just one other concrete clue. Near the accident site, FBI agents found four copies of a computer-printed letter attacking the federal government. It was signed, “Sons of the Gestapo.” FBI Agent Bruce Gebhardt said the group’s existence has never been verified:
The one person killed in the crash was a sleeping car attendant named Mitchell Bates. Whoever is responsible for the wreck will be charged with murder, as well as sabotage. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season eight with Robert Stack and in season three with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
Why this derailment may not be sabotage
If the train was derailed by the sabotage as stated in the police finding, the locomotive was most likely derailed first. But in the accident, the locomotive did not derail. The derailment configuration shows that the derailment mode of the train is the vehicle interaction mode. This mode has just been discovered lately; therefore people at that time could not use the derailment mode to analyze the derailment. This derailment mode will move, damage or destroy the rail and spikes. Therefore, all the parts damaged can be due to the derailment.
Some observations about the sabotage:
1). The time window for the criminal (or criminals) to perform the sabotage is about two to three hours and it is at night.
2) Remove the spikes and especially move the rail, needs heavy machinery.
3). One people cannot perform the sabotage. It is estimated that five people are needed to perform the job in two hours at daytime.
4). It is not easy to move the rail because it is a continuous beam. Removal of nine spikes may not reduce too much rail strength. If the criminal ever moved the rail, it should cause bad damage to track roadbed around by the machinery. Not sure we found the damage.
5). If the rail was moved, the locomotive should derail and derail first.
6). Train signal wire cut cannot cause this kind of derailment.
7). The sabotage should be considered as a large activity, people in the towns around should notice something.
“Sons of the Gestapo.” can be assumed to put there by someone on the train.
If the train was derailed by the sabotage as stated in the police finding, the locomotive was most likely derailed first. But in the accident, the locomotive did not derail. The derailment configuration shows that the derailment mode of the train is the vehicle interaction mode. This mode has just discovered lately, therefore people at that time could not use the derailment mode to analyze the derailment. This derailment mode will move, damage or destroy the rail and spikes.
“Sons of the Gestapo.” can be assumed to put there by someone on the train.
One of the grievances against law enforcement listed on the Sons of the Gestapo note referred to the “shooting of police officer’s wife who knew too much about drug kickbacks”. Does anyone know of anything in the news from back then that describes this situation? This grievance sounds personal, and I am unable to identify the source unlike the other 4 grievances listed on the note.
the person who did this was 100% an employee or an ex employee. because this is a perfect set up. they know the route and exactly how this would end in people getting injured and possibly dying. We should find records of ex employees and see what their alibi was and if they even have one. the would make getting evidence easier and bringing the culprit to justice.
Its a ex employee.
It was a perfect setup for disaster.
They new what to do and how to do it.
Unless the UnaBomber decided to do it?
Based on the letters left behind.
Unless someone starts talking who was involved? It will never be solved
Its a ex employee.
It was a perfect setup for disaster.
They new what to do and how to do it.
Unless the UnaBomber decided to do it?
Based on the letters left behind.
Its ex employee or employees.
Unless someone starts talking who was involved? It will never be solved
that’s exactly what I thought. they need tout up who was in that train and they employees working that day.it can give us a chance of getting alibis and finding out who did this.
I have to go by the experts. Once a year is not frequent enough for inspections.
https://www.progress-index.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/02/15/columnist-train-inspections-are-off-the-rails-so-are-trains/69907608007/
You know the easiest way for insurance companies to get out of liabilities is to claim a homicide. I seriously doubt of someone having a 50 year hiatus between crimes. It is very difficult to remove all of those tracks without heavy equipment. How would a killer have access to all of that with their heavy duty equipment without being noticed?
I wonder if the FBI ever looked into the possibility that freight train hoppers may have played a part in the derailment. A group of outlaw rail riders named the Freight Train Riders of America were heavily active in the 90’s. The gang is responsible for multiple thefts, assaults, and murders. The serial killer Robert Silveria was a member of the gang. The FTRA had an extensive knowledge of the US rail system including tain schedules, crew changes, and how to rig railway equipment. The gang was also very outspoken in their distaste for the US government. Often defrauding federal and state governments through food stamp and welfare fraud. Obviously whoever did this knew about the rail system and the equipment used.
The furloughs and layoffs were coming with UP taking over!
i don’t know i think that the 1939 and 1995 incidents are related
I think they are. Those tracks have a history of falling apart. Just having heavy cargo on the roads will tare up the roads. I’ve seen fresh gravel completely crack and fall apart just weeks after a new road was made. Just the durability from the ware and tare. The tracks also have friction after so much usage.
It’s no secret back then that the once glamorous and cutting edge Southern Pacific was going bankrupt. The sale to Union Pacific went fully through less than a year later (1996). A lot of SP employees were disgruntled because they were taking substantial pay cuts and getting a worse work environment/equipment; plus UP management didn’t treat them as well. Whoever did it obviously knew the area… The only people really out there were cattle ranchers and railroad employees. That section of track was scheduled to be abandoned anyway, meaning transfers of employees and less work hours.
I have followed this case for at least 12 years, and I have been to this location numerous times. Further, I was contacted by FBI agent C.K., who was in charge of this case some years back, after I left a comment on this site. I believe the FBI knows who was responsible for this, but lack sufficient evidence which would tie them to the act. The derailing of the City of San Francisco was an unrelated incident, of course, since it happened long before this act, but it is intriguing that the setup was similar.
The FBI d8d not specialize in engineering. That is a completely different major. You need experts for something like that. The way the engine separated, it had to be pulling something that was stuck.
More than One part time, people employed paid, or did them self’s, damage to the track, for more work and benefits, More than one, damaged the track, for being fired, in all the counties except one county, I get
Musta been one ’em zip-a-dee-doo-dah days!
Trains are bigger than trucks. In fact they call their wheels trucks because they are that powerful. Ive seen trucks completely take out guardrails. I’m sure a train is capable of dislodging a train rail.
it had happened in 1939 right? hmm somebody had to be inspired to do something that stupid that will be the day!
Under Pete Buttigieg they seem to happen every month.
Why Would somebody Remove The 29 Spikes? And Who Killed That Man? And Injured Those Other People? Somebody Knows Something!
Everything was metal back then. Once every 50 years was actually very good. (As unfortunate as the casualties were.) Today with all that aluminum Ohio, Minnesota, and South Dakota have had crashes in just the last 3 months.
I just don’t understand how the first portion of the train went through if it was that unpassable. Those rails are not light. You need a crane for them.
I will pray for him