Thirty-one railroad cars were derailed by the second twister from a storm cell at the Mammoth Bailey Rail Yard in North Platte. Authorities also report at least three people were injured.
The storms struck Sunday night near North Platte and about 100 miles north, near Valentine. Union Pacific Spokesman, Mark Davis says one yard worker was injured by flying debris. He treated and released at the hospital.
Complete article: http://www.nebraska.tv/story/17188274/tornado-touching-down-north-platte
I wonder how the Golden Spike Tower fared. It overlooks the yard …
… and must have given a real bird’s eye view of the tornados and all the resulting carnage!
They haven’t given much attention to the two tornados in the news. I am going to assume this wasn’t a direct hit, but more collateral damage. Train was hit west of North Platte.
Love your pictures of Golden Spike. This should encourage people to visit it and see the spectacular views first hand.
Glad you’re okay, SJ–some concern had been expressed.
I would think the the intermediate levels of the tower wouldn’t be a bad place to ride out a tornado, if one had to…I’m sure those prefab-concrete walls would hold up to a lot of wind and flying objects. I’d be afraid of window shards on the upper levels.
The most storm damage I remember riding out consisted of intermodal containers being blown about not too far behind me. Some cars of hump employees found themselves under these boxes when they landed. There was another time, though, when we could see a rapidly-moving wall of cloud forming almost directly above us. It would have been fascinating to watch at a safe distance, but this was terror-inducing.
I wish Willy would come back and say something!
I bet there was a great view of the tornado from that tower!
Some confusion on Lincoln - it was Lincoln County, North Platte City.
Tower was probably closed. They use all volunteers and I don’t remember for sure, but they close not too late in the day. Maybe Carl knows.
Said it hit Front Street. Suffice to say that if you have been to NP, you will know where Front Street is. Messed up some cottages…
Well, I suppose I could…
The tornado’s preliminary rating from the National Weather Service is EF-3, with winds of 140 mph or greater. According to their report, 15 cars were toppled in or near Bailey Yard. The heaviest damage was just west of the yard. I can’t find any official report from Union Pacific, so it couldn’t have been too bad. However, considering that the tornado was an EF-3, it could have been fairly disruptive, had it made a direct hit on the yard.
Nice report from the NWS can be found here: