[nfbwatlk] Living History: Train Derailment

[Mike Freeman]

The following article appeared in the August-September, 1986 edition of The
Braille Monitor. The "mrs. tenBroek" referred to is the late Hazel tenBroek,
wife of Jacobus tenBroek, the first President of the National Federation of
the Blind. Mrs. tenBroek lived in Washington from 1979 to 1987. The article
appears below.

 

 

 

 

Train Derailment

by Ben Prows

(This article appeared in the Spring, 1986, Blind Washingtonian, the
newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Washington. Ben Prows
is a former president of the NFB of Washington.)

On Sunday, January 19, 1986, Hazel tenBroek, Maryhelen Scheiber, and I, all
board members of the National Federation of the Blind of Washington, were
returning from a meeting in Vancouver, Washington, on Amtrak's Coast
Starlight when it derailed just south of Tacoma, Washington. There was a
lurch, then a crash, then another more significant collision, and all became
quiet. There was no panic on the part of either Amtrak officials or the
passengers. One of the train's two engines tipped over and burned. Some of
the passengers in the rear-most coach where the Federationists were riding
were slightly injured. Mrs. tenBroek had a leg contusion, Mrs. Scheiber
suffered from a cut lip and bloodied nose, but they stayed aboard the train
awaiting help while some of the other passengers were helped off the train
into emergency vehicles for treatment of more severe injuries. As with most
amateur radio operators, I carried my two-meter handheld transceiver and
began to relay messages to the families of other passengers waiting
anxiously in Seattle. Even some train officials enlisted my help to contact
friends who were waiting in Seattle to notify them that everything was all
right. 

As the afternoon waned and darkness fell, Maryhelen and I assisted some of
the waiting passengers down the steps to the lower level of the car to find
the restroom. The power on the train was, of course, off, and there were no
lights.

When the buses finally arrived to take the passengers into Seattle, the
evacuation of the Amtrak train was orderly and without incident. There was
no panic, and train officials seemed not to care that Maryhelen and I were
blind. We were assumed to be competent travelers and indeed were helpful in
the emergency. There were no attempts to preboard or postboard us. There
were no attempts to assign us special seats. In short, we were treated
exactly as we would have airline officials treat us--as normal passengers,
not needing preferential treatment.