Remembering.... 1973 Roseville Train Blasts -
RUN!
Moving to Roseville California from the Bay area in 1972-73 school year was like stepping back a decade or two in time out to the country. We moved to PFE road next to the railroad yard into a small shack of a house with our uncle and father and went to the smallest school ever. Dry Creek school was a Kindergarten through 8th grade elementary school at that time. It was way out in the rural back roads, southwest of Roseville.
The school was so small, That the 7th and 8th grade students were all in the same classroom and the teacher, Mr. Anderson I believe was his name, was also the school Principal. We were the new kids (me and my twin brother Todd) and so it took us a few weeks or so to make friends especially when most of the other students all grew up together. We soon made friends and fit into this new lifestyle without too much trouble.
Anyone who lived in the Roseville/Antelope/Sacramento area back in the early 70’s will remember the Bombs!
Yes the big blasts that shook everything for miles away and blew up railroad cars and leveled homes and a few hundred other things. It made national headlines.
-On April 28, 1973, Antelope consisted of a post office, general store and a half-dozen homes - a place hardly worthy of notice. However, at 8:03 a.m., a rail car loaded with aircraft bombs exploded in the southern part of the Roseville switch yard destroying the general store and damaging most of the homes.-
I remember that day as if it were yesterday and waking up and thinking who in the hell is shooting a shotgun this early in the morning? And very close to our little shack of a house and scaring all the farm animals my father accumulated from Denio’s auction. I was a sound sleeper back then and almost nothing woke me up that early but after the 4th or 5th blast I remember waking up and going outside and my father was looking up into the sky. And then BOOM! Another Blast scared the crap out of me and then I saw it! The HUGE stadium size Mushroom of a Cloud in the air and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
The neighbor’s dog who always growled at us came running into our house for cover. Another blast shook the house and cracked a window. Just then a CHP officer turns into our driveway and steps halfway out of his patrol car and shouts for us to Evacuate Immediately! We had barely enough time to get our shoes on when he shouted again that we needed to leave now because their might be poisonous gases in the air. Train parts weighing as much as 95Lbs or more flew hundreds of yards in the air. Some of the trains pieces landed in yards and on houses and vehicles as far as half a mile away.
In as little as a few hours, 18 boxcars exploded in succession. There were no fatalities, but 48 people were injured and property damage totaled $24 Million.
Some of my classmates lived at ground zero and their houses were either gone, (nothing but ashes) or un inhabitable when it was all over. A few of my classmates were injured from the blast that shattered glass windows and debris at them. Most of the families who lived closest to the tracks had to find other places to live. Our school was closed for a week or two to check for gas leaks etc. Antelope was changed forever after that day. What a day that was!
Oh ya I have to tell you about the train yard 30 years or so later at that same spot of the original blasts. when they were remodeling, and digging up the old railroad tracks to reconfigure the new switching yard, they found unexploded bombs buried at that same location. They called in Bomb experts and it was decided to detonate the remaining bombs right there underground where they were at. Now check this out, they had arranged to televise this demolition of the discovered old bombs live on the local news stations at approximately 9:30pm at night one evening. I lived in Rocklin at the time which was the next town north of Roseville and about five miles away from that location. So I’m sitting in my chair watching the countdown on Live TV! 321….. and I see the Ground rise where they detonated the bombs and about 5 seconds later my house rumbled and the windows shook and I felt it while sitting in my Chair! Dude’s and Duddette’s, that was awesome!!!!
Well that’s a wrap on this blog, thanks for being here and hope you enjoyed this One Time Ago… true story
There’s more like this one coming to a blog near you, I just wished I could remember them in Chronological order?
Thank you for visiting and keep checking back for more true stories like this one!
