1995 Palo Verde derailment 1976786 179483720 2007-12-21T23:21:35Z 70.252.89.220 /* The Note */ {{Infobox terrorist attack |title = Palo Verde derailment |location = [[Palo Verde]], [[Arizona]] |target = [[Amtrak]] [[Sunset Limited]] train |date = [[October 9]], [[1995]] |type = [[train]] [[derailment]] |fatalities = 1 |injuries = 78 |perps = unknown; possibly [[right-wing]] [[domestic terrorism|domestic terrorists]], although it is possible that claims of terrorist activity were made to conceal an attempt to [[train robbery|rob]] the train |motive = avenge the [[Waco Siege]] }} The '''1995 Palo Verde derailment''' took place on [[October 9]], [[1995]], when an [[Amtrak]] [[Sunset Limited]] train derailed near [[Palo Verde, Arizona]] on [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] tracks. The two [[locomotive]]s and eight of the twelve cars derailed, four of them falling 15 feet off a bridge into a dry river bed. Mitchell Bates, a sleeping car attendant, was killed, and 78 people were injured, 12 of them seriously. Four [[typewriter|typewritten]] notes, attacking the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms|ATF]] and the [[FBI]] for the [[1993]] [[Waco Siege]], criticizing local law enforcement, and signed "Sons of the Gestapo", were found near the scene of the crash, indicating that the train had been [[sabotage]]d, perhaps by [[right-wing]] [[domestic terrorism|domestic terrorists]].[http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special21/articles/1009sabotage09.html] All four notes were identical copies of the same message. Two of the notes were found by [[Neal Hallford]], a passenger traveling from Oklahoma to San Diego, California. It was found that the rails had been shifted out of position to cause the derailment, but only after they had been connected with wires. This kept the [[track circuits|track circuit]] closed, circumventing safety systems designed to warn locomotive engineers of track problems, and suggested that the saboteurs had a working knowledge of railroads. The saboteurs were never identified. The FBI now believes that the "Sons of the Gestapo" terrorist group was fictitious and invented to conceal a plan to wreck and [[train robbery|rob]] a [[freight]] train. It is also thought that the sabotage may have been done by a disgruntled rail worker who used the notes to mislead investigators and conceal the real motive. ==The Note== <blockquote> Indictment of the ATF and the FBI <br><br> Before dawn the women awoke to say their morning prayers. The women slept upstairs. They lit their kerosene lamps because the electricity had been turned off by the FBI. After observing lights in all the upstairs windows, the FBI ordered the teargas bombardment. Afterwards only two upstairs windows were lit. The location of each was recorded. Over the next few hours, ventilation holes were poked into the walls. These holes made the fire burn very much faster. Otherwise the fire department would have had time to put out the fire before the women and children died in the flames. At noon the light from the two kerosene lamps was obscured by bright sunlight. Everyone had forgotten about them except the man who carried their locations written on a scrap of paper in his pocket. He ordered the tank drivers where to crash through. Guess under which two windows. He ordered them to raise their guns. As they backed out, the guns were lowered. The video tape shows clearly the floor being raised by the tank a foot and a half. Guess what happened to the kerosene lamps in the rooms above the tanks. A minute afterwards black smoke started to pour out of the windows where the lamps had burned. This is the normal time needed for a kerosene fire to build up. <br><br> Who is policing the ATF, FBI, state troopers, county sheriffs and local police? What federal law enforcement agency investigates each and every choke hold killing committed by a police officer? each and every beating of a drunk whether or not a passerby videotapes it? each and every shooting of a police officer's wife who knows too much about drug kickbacks? each and every killing at Ruby Ridge? The Gestapo accounts to no one. This is not Nazi Germany. All these people had rights. It is time for an independent Federal agency to police the law enforcement agencies and other government employees. <br><br> Sons of the Gestapo<br> SOG </blockquote> [http://www.riflewarrior.com/case_of_the_sunset_limited.htm] ==Media Coverage== The causes of this wreck have been explored in two major documentaries, ''When Trains Crash: Blood on the Tracks'', and ''Derail: America's Worst Train Wrecks''. It has also been featured on an episode of ''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]''. ==Fiction== The events surrounding this wreck were partially fictionalized in the [[novel]] ''The Jerusalem Syndrome: The Wreck Of The Sunset Limited'' by Anne Montgomery. ==External links== *[http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/amtrak/10-10/ CNN - Sabotage suspected in 'terrorist' derailment] *[http://www.emergency.com/azdrail.htm Arizona Amtrak derailment] *[http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special21/articles/1009sabotage09.html Fatal Amtrak sabotage in state still unsolved] [[Category:Railway accidents in the United States|Palo Verde]] [[Category:Terrorist incidents in 1995|Palo Verde derailment]] [[Category:Terrorist incidents on railway systems|Palo Verde]] [[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States|Palo Verde derailment]] [[Category:Unsolved crimes|Palo Verde derailment]] [[Category:Amtrak|Palo Verde derailment]] [[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad|Palo Verde derailment]] [[Category:Railway accidents in 1995]] [[Category:Disasters in Arizona]] [[ru:Крушение поезда в Аризоне (1995)]]