Ricky,
As someone else noted, the CZ did start operation until 1949. In 1942, the West Coast train was the Exposition Flyer, inaugurated in 1939. Of course, at that time, there were a number of passenger trains that passed through Red Oak each day, including the Denver Zephyr. Since that was during the early days of WWII, there were also a number of troop trains that probably ran as extras or sections of other trains. Most of the trains wold have been heavy weight equipment as Q's stock of individual lightweight Budd cars was somewhat limited. If your friend knows the time of the accident, I am sure that someone with a timetable from the period could determine which train it was.
Personally, I rather doubt that the wreck was caused by sabotage. There are very few reported instances of railroad sabotage during the war and most of those were rumors. The most prominent one was the wreck of a Nickel Plate tank train in Ohio and that was never proved to be sabotage. While there were some very minor instances of German agents infiltrating the U.S. during the war, all of those were confined to the east coast and arrived by U-boat submarines. They were also quickly captured without doing significant damage. The only German combatants that I have ever heard of in the Midwest were captured soldiers held in camps in Wisconsin and other locations. Keep in mind that Red Oak was the home of one of the most active Q railfans, Bernard Corbin and he seemed to have more than normal access to the RR's activities during the war, including photography. I am sure that if a sabotage event occurred anywhere near Red Oak, he would have known about it. Red Oak was and is a relatively small town and the area around it is rural farm country. Otherwise, I suppose that it makes a good fictitious story, but such stories have a way of becoming fact and undermine the real history.
Bill Barber Gravois Mills, MO Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:40 am (PST) . Posted by:All
A daughter of a fellow modeler is planning to write a novel either about or including a passenger train wreck in Red Oak, IA in 1942. My friend indicated it was the CZ but I thought 1942 was before the CZ went into service under that name.
The meat of my request is the circumstances. The rumor is that the wreck was caused by sabotage, perhaps by a German sabotage team. The charges were small enough to just derail the train and I don't believe there were any fatalities. I say rumor because there is no information, they checked the local newspaper and county historical records to no avail.
Evidently, the rumor is that the War Department covered the incident up so as to not instill panic as the travelling public was using the railroads pretty much exclusively for travel of any distance in 1942.
My request is either for first hand information or possible leads to find the information. I will provide the contact information for the author if anyone wants to provide first hand information.
Thanks
Ricky Keil
Papillion, NE
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