Section D Pg 27 Missoulian Centennial Slides Problem Of Many Years
Slides Problem of Many Years
Since the first train came through Missoula in 1883, slides of mud, rock and snow on the line west proved hazardous.
In 1925 a 60-foot mud slide blocked traffic on the Couer d’Alene branch of the Northern Pacific three miles east of Henderson. The slide derailed two cars. Section crews cleared the track as soon as possible and no traffic was delayed.
That same year a Missoula railroad man, J. Fleming, invented a device to detect slides automatically. It was a wire attached to a fence which when forced by a slide would unconnect the block system. The block signals did the rest. The signal was automatically set against the train bringing the train to a stop.