[nfbwatlk] Living History: Train Derailment

[Leslie Fitzpatrick]

I like it thanks Mike.
On Aug 26, 2012, at 6:38 AM, "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:

> 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.
> 
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> 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.
> 
> 
> 
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