Fire on Golden Spike 150th Rose Bowl Float

Climax1551 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:31 pm **Posts:** 36

Was watching the Rose Bowl Parade this morning on TV when there was a disruption in the parade "due to a float catching fire." To my surprise, the aerial camera panned over to show Union Pacific's "Harmony Through Union" float as the culprit. Things got so bad that they had to bring a tow truck out to tow it away, delaying the parade and messing up the parade lineup. However, there was little visual damage. It seems the fire was confined to underneath the float.

Bad start for Union Pacific's celebrations this year...

Rader Sidetrack · **Joined:** Sat Jan 21, 2017 11:43 am **Posts:** 54

That float is not actually Union Pacific's float. It belongs to the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, although UP is credited as a "sponsor".

Quote:

The Chinese American Heritage Foundation (CAHF), a community-driven organization in Boston, Massachusetts that promotes the recognition and appreciation of the historical contributions made by Chinese-Americans to the United States, is fielding a “Harmony Through Union” float for the 2019 Rose Parade in Pasadena.

More here:
http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/2019-ro ... CuvKcZOnr0

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2019 2:45 pm

Coverage from the local Pasadena Star News:
https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2019/01/01/rose-parade-float-breaks-down-causes-backup/

Quote:

A 2019 Rose Parade float broke, bringing an unplanned end to the 2019 Rose Parade for TV audiences Tuesday morning, while the malfunction caused confusion for the thousands of people lined up along the parade route.

The Chinese American Heritage Foundation’s “Harmony Through Union” stopped moving and smoke began erupting out of it around 9:45 a.m. just before bend in the road where Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards meet.

Marching bands successfully navigated around the 90-foot, two-section float, but other floats were unable to to do so — leading to a backup of several floats. Hosts on the KTLA telecast of the parade tried to stall in the hopes that the obstruction would be removed and the parade could continue as planned.

“We’ve had a bit of a malfunction,” Leeza Gibbons said. “They’re scrambling right now.”

The problem was with the second of the two sections, Mark Steines said. A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy, who identified himself as Deputy Hernandez, said the tow truck’s hitch broke when it attempted to tow the massive float.

Telecasts were scheduled to end at 10 a.m., apparently forcing parade organizers to trigger the ending performance featuring singer Anne-Marie, even though two other floats — South Pasadena’s and DigAlert’s — hadn’t made their way in front of the cameras.

Meanwhile on the streets, thousands of people streamed down Colorado Boulevard, confused about whether the remaining floats would continue their journey. It’s unclear whether those floats will finish the remainder of the route.

TV coverage on the local KTLA showed that this occurred on Orange Grove Blvd. about a block before the turn onto Colorado Blvd. This was about a block or two from the start of the parade route on Orange Grove. TV coverage showed two large tow trucks had been able to move the articulated float around onto Colorado and partway down the steep hill at that location.

Climax1551 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:31 pm **Posts:** 36

Rader Sidetrack wrote:

That float is not actually Union Pacific's float. It belongs to the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, although UP is credited as a "sponsor".

Quote:

The Chinese American Heritage Foundation (CAHF), a community-driven organization in Boston, Massachusetts that promotes the recognition and appreciation of the historical contributions made by Chinese-Americans to the United States, is fielding a “Harmony Through Union” float for the 2019 Rose Parade in Pasadena.

More here:
http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/2019-ro ... CuvKcZOnr0

I do remember that now, I changed to title of the thread to avoid confusion... Isn't Bachmann Trains a sponsor as well?

Pegasuspinto · **Joined:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 am **Posts:** 783

I think they put the firebox in the wrong spot..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgZk2Qcp5pg

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:14 pm

Los Angeles Times article about the float's problem, probable cause and a possible fine by the Tournament of Roses Association.
Creators of the Rose Parade float that caught fire could face a fine, officials say

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assoc. is a membership organization made up of individuals living or working in Pasadena or adjacent communities. It organizes the annual Rose Parade and the Bowl Game and it involved with various community activities. The men and women you see along the parade route in the white suits are the volunteer members. The Rose Parade has been around since 1890 and the Association was incorporated in 1904.

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2019 12:27 pm

So, does a "fine" from an association like this have any official teeth? It sounds like they have no legal enforcement power to collect a fine, unless they pursue civil litigation in the courts. The float's owners could just blow them off. Of course they would probably never be allowed to enter another float in a future parade...

Heavenrich · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:07 am **Posts:** 630

PaulWWoodring wrote:

So, does a "fine" from an association like this have any official teeth? It sounds like they have no legal enforcement power to collect a fine, unless they pursue civil litigation in the courts. The float's owners could just blow them off. Of course they would probably never be allowed to enter another float in a future parade...

It's also the float designer that may come into play here and one designer may do several floats === etc etc etc.

The real issue is do they want to stay in business????

Bob H.

train guy · **Joined:** Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:20 pm **Posts:** 211

Stupid question, I guess, but what does a Rose Bowl Float by the Chinese American Heritage Foundation have to do with Railway Preservation?

Dave · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2019 5:55 pm

The railways brought the Chinese over...…… I'm very pleased to know that they celebrate that part of their cultural heritage. Would that the rest of us did it more as well.

p51 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2019 7:40 pm

I know nothing about the nuts and bolts of the Rose Bowl float business, but I'd bet there's a criteria a float must meet to be included, and that would almost certainly include some type of signed agreement between the parade staff and those who would want a float in the parade. Otherwise, you'd have all kind of "Bubba" floats and not maintain the high standards they clearly have for the floats that get to roll there.

choodude · **Joined:** Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:58 am **Posts:** 327

train guy wrote:

Stupid question, I guess, but what does a Rose Bowl Float by the Chinese American Heritage Foundation have to do with Railway Preservation?

I'm guessing that you did not understand who some of the sponsors were, nor did not see the float.

IMHO Union Pacific Railroad has a current connection to the railway preservation movement.

Brian

Stationary Engineer · **Joined:** Thu Dec 12, 2013 1:26 pm **Posts:** 258

train guy wrote:

Stupid question, I guess, but what does a Rose Bowl Float by the Chinese American Heritage Foundation have to do with Railway Preservation?

Its a reminder not to get in a rush in completing a project and to look at all the potential failure effects when modifying or designing something. The fire was caused by hydraulic/transmission fluid leaking on a hot exhaust manifold.

Randy Gustafson · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:33 pm

UP was apparently enough of a sponsor to get the corporate logo on there on the float, that's where that relationship stopped, but that's bad enough.

Years ago we worked with an individual whose 'day job' was designing and building Rose Parade Floats. Yes, you can make a living doing that. His famous one was the Coca-Cola polar bears one. There's a whole culture and industry underneath these, like Mardi Gras. These are professionals, and they have to work under hot deadlines, and considering the amount of technology in most of them (you're competing against Cal-Poly) it's not surprising that something may go wrong every once in a while. In this case apparently a blown transmission hose.

Having seen the pictures of the float post-incident, it's truly beautiful and a tribute to railroad preservation and the Golden Spike celebration, not the least bit 'out of scale', remarkably accurate for a parade float and unfortunate that the incident happened. It was generally recorded as 'a float', not the UP float or the train float or something, just as well.

Seems to me that Santa Fe had one for a while, a whole parade train.

But yeah, when you realize that the float just happened to have replica Jupiter and 119 on it, and a UP logo, you just give yourself a forehead slap and say 'what next?'. I was still looking for the Amtrak logo myself.