Menu
- New nursing home rules threaten rural communities (4/23/24)
- Human wages, robot purchases in lock-step (4/11/24)
- Heed the call for caution this year in road work zones (4/9/24)
- This year, heed the call for caution in highway work zones (4/9/24)
- Railroad safety should not be left to contract negotiations (4/5/24)
- Rejecting LB764 upholds fairness in Nebraska (4/4/24)
- A wake-up call for young adults: Get your cancer checkups (4/2/24)
Editorial
Stranded Amtrak passengers got to see hospitality at its best
Monday, August 29, 2011
Benkelman fire chief Relgene Zimbelman got it right; there's no such thing as a "good" train wreck, but Friday's Amtrak wreck brought out the best of area residents.
Yes, fire and ambulance crews from every town within driving distance got there as fast as they could, but we tend to expect that and take them for granted.
We doubt the passengers on the train have that attitude.
But they might not have known about the hospitality reflex that kicked in among civilians in Benkelman and area towns, opening up the Dundy County-Stratton gym, transporting shaken up passengers there by school bus and offering Internet service so passengers could let family and friends know they were all right.
Restaurants donated platters of food, grocery stores as far as McCook sent water and snacks, and banks fired up grills to feed the hungry passengers.
We were somehow not surprised to learn that the train was running so late because it had struck an abandoned vehicle earlier in the run at Wendover, Nevada. That delay may have contributed to the accident; the eastbound Amtrak train should have been long gone by the time the crane went to work.
The phone was ringing off the hook Friday morning at the Gazette while television stations all along the Amtrak route called for photographs -- which we were able to provide, thanks to Bill Coe, who lives in Max and likes to share his photographic talents with us and other area media.
He was among the first on the scene, and enjoyed seeing his name on photos sent by the Associated Press coast to coast and around the world.
Also, thanks to columnist Dick Trail, who allowed city editor Bruce Baker to tag along to take some aerial photos and videos of the scene.
The phones quieted down by that afternoon, while the news monster moved on to devour the next story.
We have a feeling, however, that the passengers who experienced the hospitality of Southwest Nebraska -- and Northeast Colorado and Northwest Kansas -- will remember that day for a long time.