The local news tonite reported a tornado in the strasburg area today. was the strasburg railroad museum or the strsburg railroad affected?

> The local news tonite reported a tornado in
> the strasburg area today. was the strasburg
> railroad museum or the strsburg railroad
> affected?

I've just spent the past hour or so perusing websites ranging from the National Weather Service (weather station KLNS) to several Lancaster-region media outlets, and I can find no reports of a tornado in the area. Flood warnings, yes........


LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

> The local news tonite reported a tornado in
> the strasburg area today. was the strasburg
> railroad museum or the strsburg railroad
> affected?

We got wet, but no tornado. Thomas is up and running and the weather looks much better for the remainder of the event.

Strasburg Rail Road
linnwm@supernet.com

> We got wet, but no tornado. Thomas is up and
> running and the weather looks much better
> for the remainder of the event.
Our local tv station (WGAL) showed video of a funnel cloud taken near Paradise. It was impressive looking but apparently never reached the ground.
Seems like you can't have a Thomas week without Mother Nature throwing storms at us.

twatson410@aol.com

Hmmm.Headline: Thomas Sucked Up by Tornado...good for the rail preservation movement or not?

It was near Strasburg, Colorado. In the last few days we have been having numerous sever thunderstorms with tornados on the eastern plains of Colorado. Strasburg, Colorado does also have a steam railroad conection. It is the home of Virgil and Marlin Urich's Urich Locomotive Works.
Roger Mitchell
Master Mechanic
Fort Collins Municipal Railway

n0mcr@netzero.net

WGAL TV Channel 8 on June 17, 2004, did post a severe weather alert based upon a doppler radar warning that a thunderstorm cell with rotating winds was marked at or near Millersville, PA and was headed east towards Strasburg slated to arrive, I think around 12:15 PM.

A boy was hit by lightening while outside of the Costco (Price Club) Warehouse in Lancaster, PA.

Does the Strasburg Railroad have NOAA Weather Radio alerts with its conductors? What is the evacuation procedure if a funnel cloud of a tornado is spotted while the train is underway? Does the train halt but the passengers remain on the train? Do they get off under the direction of the conductors and seek a low place in the farm fields around the track?

hugh.clayton@nara.gov

Do any other railway lines have tornado procedures and if so what are they?

Matthew Mummert

Someone asked:
> Does the Strasburg Railroad have NOAA
> Weather Radio alerts with its conductors?
> What is the evacuation procedure if a funnel
> cloud of a tornado is spotted while the
> train is underway? Does the train halt but
> the passengers remain on the train? Do they
> get off under the direction of the
> conductors and seek a low place in the farm
> fields around the track?


mlmummert@suscom.net

> Do any other railway lines have tornado
> procedures and if so what are they?

> Matthew Mummert

Of course I am no expert and I doubt many have tried to train their crews to respond to such a situation. But pretty much you have to be close enough to a tornado to visually see it before you can repsond, and then you only have minutes, if that.

If the tornado appears to be standing up straight, near vertical, you can be pretty sure it is either coming right at you or going straight away from you. They generally travel from the quadrant from south to west and rarely originate from the north to east quadrant. If the funnel cloud seems to lean, it is generally travelling at right angles to you and poses less of an immediate threat. The tip of the funnel on the ground drags behind the movement of the top wider part of the funnel due to friction from the ground and loss of energy as it churns up the debris and wreckage.

Somehow it would be ideal if everyone were trained and could repsond quickly and safely. But a panic response could make the situation worse, move a train into the path of a tornado, try to outrun one, or do a hasty evacuation of equipment causing more possible injury. And remember the only rule is that the tornados have not read the rulebook.

Bob Kutella

68trolley@comcast.net

Thought this would be a good point to let people know about the Uhrich's 15" gauge steam operation in Strasburg, Colorado. Although I heard it is now overgrown with brush, there are at least two steamers and one diesel on the site that are stored in an old underground gasoline storage tank. The beautiful 5-1/2" scale replica of Rio Grande K-27 #463 (now at the Cumbres & Toltec) runs there although last I heard it was in a shop getting rebuilt after being worn down running at Heritage Square in Golden, Colorado. The owners, the Uhrichs, reportedly were willing to sell it for (hold your breath) $250,000! It is a pretty nice model though as you can see. Their other engine is a 2-6-0 Mogul which ran briefly at Tiny Town in Morrison (near Denver) while their engine was getting rebuilt by the Uhrichs.

-Ed Kelley


GTNGRR@aol.com