Boreas Wreck January 21, 1936

[Mike Trent]

At 11:30AM in the morning of Monday, January 20, 1936, 90 years ago today, Extra #537-#75-#73 with Car Flanger 015, left Leadville Eastbound with the Monday Freight for Como. At Climax, they switched out empty boxcars and picked up 8 loads of Molybdenum bound for Denver. Weather had been bad, and the crew had a rough time clearing snow and switching at Climax. They arrived very late at Dickey and eventually left and made it to Breckenridge, the last open station at that time of evening. They left Breckenridge at 9:50PM and soon encountered heavy wind and snow, blizzard conditions. At Belmont, they had to split the train and double the hill to Boreas, even with three engines.

By the time they left Boreas, Conductor Dave Sanches sent engines #73 and #75 with the flanger coupled between them ahead of #537, which was following behind. At 3:30AM, now January 21st, the crew passed the 16 hour law since leaving Leadville. The crew had determined to press on to Como, 9 miles ahead at the bottom of the hill.

Shortly after passing Windy Point, at 3:40AM, the Car Flanger derailed, which derailed #73's tender and locomotive, and pulled #75 over as well. Engine #73 remained upright far down the hill on the right side of the grade and then went sideways to the left and settled in the snow on it's right side. Fireman Doug Schnarbush went into the right side of the cab, closed the throttle, and shoveled snow into to firebox. He found Engineer Charlie Thomas sitting dazed on a tree stump. Not knowing what had become of Engine #75, he climbed the 250 hill to the grade and found Fireman Clinton Eshe near the top with #75. He reported that #75 had rolled hard on its right side and had killed Engineer Charlie Williamson. Their immediate concern was to get upgrade and stop #537 with it's heavy load of ore cars.

Doug said when he came up to #537 and swung up into the cab, he scared Engineer Tom Gibbony half to death looking like a ghost covered with ice and snow. They got the train stopped and tried to use 537's whistle to alert Como. But they had a phone that could be clamped to the telegraph and called the agent at Como to get help. They got the line open soon, replacing 20 ties and securing the rails. They had to shovel snow into #537's tender for water and brought Williamson's body back to the caboose. A spur was laid behind #75, and with the help of the Derrick, it was rolled upright and carefully brought to Como, and then to Denver for repairs. #73 was not able to be recovered until the following July.

With two engines out of service, the C&S leased three C-19 class 2-8-0's from the D&RGW. These included #343, #345, and #346.

Most of this is well chronicled in Tom Klinger's "C&S Highline Memories", with many photographs in Chapter 7.

If anyone is interested in a copy of the ICC Accident Report of this wreck, I can email a PDF to you. mtrent476 at gmail dot com.

[Todd Hackett]

Underside of 73 in the snow after the wreck (copied from print in George Thiede's collection):


Underside of 73 after the thaw (I think this was taken by Hailey):


Top of 73 in the snow after the wreck (from Kindig's collection, possibly Hailey photo):


Similar view of 73 after the thaw (probably Hailey photo):


Preparing to retrieve 75 on a shoofly track (dated on the back January 21 1936):


No. 75 sitting in Como waiting to be repaired (date on back only says "1936" but likely soon after wreck):

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Todd.

Todd was present for many interviews with Doug S., including the occasion he spoke of this wreck on Boreas.

I have a couple cassette recordings which include this story.

There are still glass shards and scattered coal at the wreck site where both locomotives came to rest.

[Southpark]

This past New Year Eve(2025) about 7:30 we had a phone call.  On impulse I answered thinking I could decline a roof inspection or storm windows.  I was wrong by far!  The caller was the daughter of Charles Thomas!  Now start the math.  She was born a year of so after the Jan 1936 Boreas derailment.  But anyway.  She really does  not know a lot of the narrow gauge.  She had been going through papers of her sister and came across a letter I had sent her sister and brother in law about 25 years or so ago.  But the real story goes back about 15 years or so ago during Boreas Pass Railroad Days sponsored by the Forest Service.  I was giving a slide show talk at the section house(solar power juice for the projector) and when I was done a question was asked, "where were the derailments"?  I responded, "anyplace there was a curve".  I then related some of the details of the Jan 1936 derailment.  As folks were departing when I was through, 2 women (sisters) came up to me and said, "that was our Daddy that went down the mountain".  Now that really hit me HARD! The wrong person was giving the talk.  Tom Klinger

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Tom. I was unaware that Thomas had two living daughters. I have been told that Charlie Williamson has living family as well.

[Rick Steele]

The only living family of Charlie Williamson that I know of are his grandson, Chuck and his granddaughter Heather. I believe that Chuck has a couple of kids.

I was best friends with the middle Grandchild, Don. He and I grew up together, volunteered at the Colorado Railroad Museum Together and Worked together in Central City in 1970.

Don told me that the only surviving child of Charlie and Hazel was their son Howard. Two other kids had died in childhood. Yes, I knew Hazel and Howard as well. He was a Pharmacist at Skaggs. Don was the only one who went railroading. He worked for the Great Western Railway in Loveland and also for the C&S in Denver. Don died childless of COPD when he was 59.

After Don's death I lost touch with the rest of the family.

Rick