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Thread: Amtrak derailment in Montana kills 3 (Don and Margie Varnadoe, & Zach Schneider, 28))

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    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    Amtrak derailment in Montana kills 3 (Don and Margie Varnadoe, & Zach Schneider, 28))

    Ugh. Hopefully, there aren't a lot of additional serious injuries. Joplin is just a wide spot on the road far from any town of size, and I believe many of the hospitals up there are full of Covid patients.

    https://news.google.com/search?q=amt...S&ceid=US%3Aen
    Three people lost their lives when an Amtrak train derailed in Montana on Saturday afternoon, according to the Liberty County Sheriff's office.

    CNN reports that a statement from the railway said five cars from Amtrak's Empire Builder train 7/27 derailed near Joplin, Montana, injuring an undisclosed number of passengers.

    The fatal wreck occurred around 4 p.m. local time, according to Amtrak.

    At the time, there were about 147 passengers and 13 crew members on board.

    The Associated Press cited an eyewitness account of the incident, quoting passenger, Megan Vandervest, who was headed to Seattle.

    Vandervest told reporters she was awakened by the derailment, saying, ?My first thought was that we were derailing because, to be honest, I have anxiety and I had heard stories about trains derailing. My second thought was that?s crazy. We wouldn?t be derailing. Like, that doesn?t happen.?

    She told the Times that the car behind hers was tilted over, the one behind that was entirely tipped over, and the three cars behind that ?had completely fallen off the tracks and were detached from the train.?

    Vandervest said it felt like ?extreme turbulence on a plane.?

    Amtrak and local authorities worked together to see that injured passengers were brought to medical facilities and other passengers were evacuated to the Liberty County Senior Center.

    This is a developing situation, and additional updates are likely to follow throughout the evening.
    Update:

    At least three people were killed and more than 50 people were injured on Saturday after an Amtrak train derailed in Montana, authorities said. The Empire Builder train that runs between Seattle and Chicago was traveling with 147 passengers and 13 crew members on board when it flew off the rails near the town of Joplin, the Associated Press reports. No details on the victims were immediately available. An emergency services official in Hill County, Montana, told The New York Times that “well over” 50 people had been hurt in the derailment. Rescue workers from six different counties have rushed to the crash site, and five hospitals were standing by to treat the injured passengers.
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/dozens...ils-in-montana
    Last edited by puzzld; 09-25-2021 at 07:08 PM.
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    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
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    I actually knew one of the people killed. I met "Margie" (her Facebook name is different) through a local Facebook group and I've been to her house a couple of times. R.I.P.

    https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/lo...a8435cc0b.html

    Local couple killed in Montana train derailment
    By TERRY DICKSON

    A retired St. Simons Island real estate agent and his wife, a Glynn County school system teacher and administrator, were among three passengers killed Saturday afternoon when a cross-country Amtrak train derailed in Montana.

    Don and Margie Varnadoe were aboard the Empire Builder when it derailed about 4 p.m. near Joplin, a town of about 200 in the high plains just 30 miles from the Canadian border in north-central Montana.

    The train that runs from Chicago to Seattle had about 140 passengers and 16 crew members in 10 cars pulled by two locomotives, the AP reported. Eight of the cars left the tracks injuring at least 50 people. Five of them remained hospitalized Sunday in serious condition, the AP said.

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    Although Liberty County, Montana, Sheriff Nick Erickson declined to release the names of those killed until their next of kin were notified, word spread around St. Simons Sunday morning that Don and Margie Varnadoe had died in the accident.

    “I was just shocked,’’ said St. Simons real estate agent Roland Daniel. “Three people are dead, and two of them are Don and Marge Varnadoe.”

    “They were grateful, wonderful, honorable people. It’s a shame they’re gone,’’ Daniel said.

    Both served the Glynn County School System, Margie Varnadoe as a teacher, principal, personnel director and assistant superintendent, and Don Varnadoe as a school board member for four years.

    “We were friends and colleagues,’’ retired school superintendent Howard Mann said.

    “She went in and took over our human resources and made some changes’’ with Paul McKenzie, Mann said.

    She oversaw and implemented a complete reorganization of the office, Mann said.

    They improved the application process that improved teacher recruitment in a way designed to attract the brightest and best educators, Mann said. She worked with Valerie Hepburn, the president of College of Coastal Georgia at the time, to identify good candidates in the teacher education program there.

    She implemented good practices that are still in use, Mann said.

    “She was sadly missed when she retired, but her impact lives on,’’ he said.

    During his single term on the school board between 1998 and 2002, Don Varnadoe was always intent on improving the school system. He worked hard and conscientiously on attendance zones and boundaries that are necessary to keep student populations balanced, Mann said.

    “I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with on ways to help kids,” Mann said. “He made a concerted effort to follow the rules governing school boards. He knew his issues were policy and budget and that’s what he stuck to.”

    After Don Varnadoe decided to not seek re-election, Earl Perry won the post and said Varnadoe made the transition easier.

    “He brought me a box of paperwork and showed me everything they had done. It was a great help,’’ Perry said.

    Don Varnadoe had worked at Sea Island Realty before joining Coldwell Bankers.

    Daniel called him “the most solid real estate agent I’ve ever known.”

    “He was as kind as they come” and listened more than he talked to learn about the customers’ needs, Daniel said.

    Of Margie Varnadoe, Daniel said, “Just the smartest person I’ve ever known.”

    A National Transportation Safety Board team was at the scene of derailment Sunday investigating the accident, the AP reported.
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    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    I actually knew one of the people killed. I met "Margie" (her Facebook name is different) through a local Facebook group and I've been to her house a couple of times. R.I.P.

    https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/lo...a8435cc0b.html
    I'm so sorry.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
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    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by puzzld View Post
    I'm so sorry.
    Thank you.

    On my cell.
    The other victim was Zach Schneider.

    https://metro.co.uk/2021/09/27/coupl...-15326424/amp/
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