Changes

The Comet derailed about a mile east of Winston when the rails split. (The rails were due for replacement, but Clifton Locey had canceled that work for reasons that were never specified.) The Comet's Diesel engine was damaged beyond repair.

The Comet derailed about a mile east of Winston when the rails split. (The rails were due for replacement, but Clifton Locey had canceled that work for reasons that were never specified.) The Comet's Diesel engine was damaged beyond repair.

The station agent at Winston immediately called the Ohio Division office at Silver Springs, Colorado. Dave Mitchum, distraught and close to panic, ordered a wrecking train sent out to make a quick repair and pull the Comet in to Winston. His initial decision, suggested by chief dispatcher William "Bill" Brent, was to hold the Comet at Winston until an eastbound train, pulled by a Diesel engine, could pass through the tunnel, meet the Comet, and change engines. This would result in an eighteen-hour delay for the Comet. The alternatives were either to:

The station agent at Winston immediately called the Colorado Division office at Silver Springs, Colorado. Dave Mitchum, distraught and close to panic, ordered a wrecking train sent out to make a quick repair and pull the Comet in to Winston. His initial decision, suggested by chief dispatcher William "Bill" Brent, was to hold the Comet at Winston until an eastbound train, pulled by a Diesel engine, could pass through the tunnel, meet the Comet, and change engines. This would result in an eighteen-hour delay for the Comet. The alternatives were either to:

# Send the Comet through the tunnel with a [[coal]]-burning [[steam]] locomotive to pull it (totally unsafe, especially since the ventilation system was not functioning at par), or

# Send the Comet through the tunnel with a [[coal]]-burning [[steam]] locomotive to pull it (totally unsafe, especially since the ventilation system was not functioning at par), or