Thistle Realignment
On May 27, 1987, the eastbound California Zephyr rolls near the site of Thistle, Utah. Just ahead, the train will enter a tunnel through the terrain created by a huge mudslide and resultant flood that wiped out the town in April 1983. The railroad and highway were closed a few days before the main slide occurred, after months of record rain and snow. This overview from the shoulder of US Route 6 shows the Zephyr on the post -1983 alignment, the original Route 6, and across the Spanish Fork, the original Rio Grande roadbed. It’s sobering to think that I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr through Thistle just a few weeks before the disaster.
Thistle Realignment
On May 27, 1987, the eastbound California Zephyr rolls near the site of Thistle, Utah. Just ahead, the train will enter a tunnel through the terrain created by a huge mudslide and resultant flood that wiped out the town in April 1983. The railroad and highway were closed a few days before the main slide occurred, after months of record rain and snow. This overview from the shoulder of US Route 6 shows the Zephyr on the post -1983 alignment, the original Route 6, and across the Spanish Fork, the original Rio Grande roadbed. It’s sobering to think that I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr through Thistle just a few weeks before the disaster.