TAHKENITCH TRAIN DERAILMENT

What they hoped to find lay at the bottom of Tahkenitch Lake for 37 years. Local folks may recall that June day in 1987, when a Southern Pacific (“SP”) Railroad train derailed on its daily route between Coos Bay and Eugene. As the 102-car train crossed a trestle on the northernmost part of the lake, the 75th car derailed. Four cars loaded with lumber and plywood plunged into the lake. Four other cars derailed and awkwardly leaned on the tracks, with an empty liequid petroleum gas tank still attached. SP confirmed there were no chemicals being transported. Sparks from the friction of the train’s cars had scraped against the tracks and ignited a fire on the trestle. Several helicopters assisted in putting out the fire, using drop buckets filled with lake water. Fortunately, there were no injuries during the mishap. Investigation revealed following maintenance work on the tracks that morning, a section of the track had not been adequately secured.

Fast forward to September, 2024 when scuba diver Lawrence Bloomfield visited the Museum’s Kyle Research Library to donate items from his remarkable experience with the Tahkenitch Lake derailment project. For some time he had been encouraged by others to conduct an exploratory dive of the lake for possible derailment artifacts. He entertained the idea, and began researching the possibility of such an undertaking. Because the Tahkenitch boat dock was unserviceable at the time, he studied the area to determine a feasible entry point from land for the dive. With about 500 pounds of gear needed for the dive, sorting out the logistics was an essential element of his planning process.

Nearly two years in the making, the project presented tremendous challenges from its inception. Lawrence secured permission from the Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians (CTSI), the Department of Forestry and other agencies to access the service road to the train tracks. The road led to rugged terrain, downed trees blocking an overgrown path, and landslides. He soon realized the project had all the makings of a “multiple excursion event”. He revisited the site nearly 20 times to work out a viable plan to execute the project.

In the retelling of his story, it was obvious Lawrence maintained an unwavering determination to methodically resolve each successive challenge. He organized a crew of worthy individuals as dedicated and passionate as himself to undertake the project. Among the crew was photographer Thaxter Haywood from Colorado. Following many months of research, Lawrence was confident he knew the approximate search area.

He consulted with various agencies and another local diver familiar with the area until he finally located a spot to launch a boat for the dive. Lawrence and the crew initially surveyed the area on kayaks. About 1 ½ miles from where they first paddled out, they began seeing compelling evidence of train parts half buried in silt along the shore – a train chassis, railroad ties, cables, etc. It became apparent they were in the vicinity of where they needed to be.

A HISTORIC EXPEDITION

Seven months after obtaining the CTSI permission, Lawrence and Thaxter took their first dive. According to Lawrence, visibility in the lake was poor. The lake’s algae, mud, silt, and clay complicated the prospect of seeing, much less recovering artifacts. Despite a depth of only 22 feet and using guarded movements to minimize stirring up the silt, they could barely see more than 3 inches in front of them. Flashlights were nearly useless. They resorted to using their hands to feel along the lake’s silt covered floor. Within 15 minutes of the dive they resurfaced to evaluate the benefit of continuing. Considering the research, travel and invested efforts over the past 2 years, Lawrence suggested they give it another 15 minutes to decide if the project could still be salvaged. They continued the dive, and quickly lost sight of each other. At one point, Lawrence reached out to what he thought was Thaxter’s fin. To his surprise, he grabbed onto what appeared to be a bag. When they resurfaced, Lawrence lifted the bag and relayed to Thaxter: “inside of this is a piece of the train”. By the end of the four-hour dive, they recovered more than 300 parts from the derailment. According to Lawrence, perhaps the most rewarding item recovered was a half-buried portion of a rail beam. After resurfacing from the dive, he recalls a satisfying moment when he declared to the crew: “I don’t think we found the icing on the cake – we found the cake itself!” After inspecting the track’s rail piece, Lawrence suggests it may well be the piece that caused the train to derail and ultimately tip over. Click to enlarge image.

Many thanks to Lawrence Bloomfield, Thaxter Haywood, and the crew for donating many of the derailment artifacts to the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum. The artifacts include the rail beam, bolts, spring, and brake pad – all of which are displayed in our second floor exhibit area. The Museum is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The on-site Kyle Research Library is open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Crew:
Lawrence Alexander Bloomfield – Engineer, Diver, and Owner of The Deep Dive LLC
Thaxter Haywood – Professional Photographer and Diver
Roen Khufu – Surface-to-vessel artifact transfer specialist and Arborist Crew Member
Jira Jarman – Captain

Larry Bloomfield – Lawrence’s Father, Radio Station Programmer, and Arborist Crew Member
Katelin Bloomfield – Lawrence’s Wife, Financial Specialist
Kaleb Haggard – Arborist Crew Member
Axel Bloomfield – Regulatory Oversight Specialist, and Governance and Risk Analyst

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SOURCES:
“7 Suspended in Train Derailment”. The Oregonian; 9 Jul 1987: 23.Sources:
Calder, Bill. “Rail Crew of 8 Fired After Derailment”. The Oregonian, 7 Aug 1987: C6.
Koberstein, Paul and Calder, Bill. “Derailment Sinks Cars, Starts Fire. The Oregonian; 27 Jun 1987: 20.
Little, Kristy. Eyewitness News Report; “Southern Pacific Tahkenitch Lake Train Wreck, Train Falls Into Lake”; YouTube
Serra, Bob. “Human Error Blamed in Derailment”. The Siuslaw News, 8 July 1987; Vol 27.
“Trains Moving Again”. The World; 7 July 1987: 1.

Story by Deb Lobey
Transcript by Suzanne Korosec
oralhistory@spmuseum.org

A HISTORIC EXPEDITION

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