
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990                   TAG: 9004240522
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BATAVIA, IOWA                                LENGTH: Medium

AMTRACK WRECK INJURES 91

An Amtrak train was lurching from side to side and going "clickety, clickety, clunk" before it jumped the tracks, witnesses said. At least 91 people were reported injured, three seriously.

"Last night it seemed like the train just wasn't going right. It was kind of swaying so much it woke me up," Ruby Hall of Forrest City, Ark., one of the California Zephyr's 394 passengers, said Monday.

The train was on its run from Seattle-Oakland to Chicago with a crew of 24 when it derailed at the edge of this town of 500, about 90 miles from Des Moines.

Jasonna Gibson of Schenectady, N.Y., said she was holding her 2 1/2-month-old baby when the train left the tracks. "The baby fell," she said. "I tried to get him and a lady fell on me."

Eight passenger or baggage cars jumped the tracks: four remained upright; three were leaning, and one, a sleeper car, was on its side, Amtrak spokeswoman Sue Martin said.

The crew reported to local hospitals for drug and alcohol tests, as required under federal regulations, said Michael Turner, Amtrak supervisor of on-board services. Test results were not immediately available.

Kathy Hood of Littleton, Colo., said the ride was rough before the derailment. "This is my first train ride, but I didn't think they were supposed to sway so much," she said.

Paula Stater said she was in her home near the tracks just before the accident and knew knew something wasn't right.

"I said to myself, `There goes that Amtrak making that stupid noise,' " she said. "But instead of going clickety, clickety, clack, it was making a clickety, clickety, clunk.

"I looked out the window and thought, `Lord, I hope nobody was killed.' "

Asked about reports of swaying and noise, Gerry Hester, transportation superintendent for Amtrak's Midwest division, would not speculate on the accident.

Mike Wenninger, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Railroad, on whose line the train was operating, said investigators would interview the crew and witnesses, check if signals were working and examine the train's speed. Wenninger said the Burlington Northern line is kept in "tiptop condition and is inspected daily."

Martin said she does not know how fast the train was traveling but its "black box" data recorder should help investigators. The train is authorized to travel up to 79 mph in the area of the crash, she said.

by CNB