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Deadliest Avalanche
Mon Feb 17, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
In March, 1910, snow trapped over 100 people on a train in Washington State's Cascade
Mountains. For days, the train couldn't move. But that was not the worst. Not nearly. Hi, I'm
Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook.
The Great Northern rail route runs from Spokane to Seattle, Washington. As the train
approached the two-mile tunnel beneath Stevens Pass, it was halted by snowslides. It took a
day and a half for the tracks to be cleared and finally the train made it through the tunnel,
only to be stopped again on the other side, just past the tiny town of
Wellington.
From Thursday night through Monday night, the train went nowhere. Meanwhile, snow continued to
fall. Trees that were visible above the tracks at first, were soon buried under a mass of
white.
By Sunday, as the tension and boredom mounted, a few people decided to hike eight miles to the
next town. For those left behind, Monday's snow turned to sleet and then to rain. The slope
was loaded.
Finally, at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 1st, a mile-wide avalanche broke loose, throwing the
passenger train and a mail train off the tracks and over a canyon wall, down 150 feet.
Twenty-two people actually survived, but 96 lost their lives -- the worst death toll ever for
a U.S. avalanche.
The tragedy spurred construction of an eight-mile tunnel to a safer spot. It's the longest
alpine tunnel in the Western Hemisphere.
Thanks to contributing writer Bob Henson. Our show is underwritten by Subaru, The Beauty of
All-Wheel Drive, with major support provided by the National Science Foundation. Support also
comes from Davis Instruments, maker of the Vantage Pro Weather Station.
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