May 31, 1930
All downtown traffic was halted across Southern Pacific railroad tracks for more than 30 minutes early last night when a long freight train blocked the most important downtown street crossings.
Cause of the delay and consequent traffic jams in the downtown district could not be learned from Southern Pacific employes last night. The dispatcher on the Rio Grande division on whose the train is said to have been moving stated he had no report of the delay, and expected no report from the train crew until this morning.
Yard employes of the Texas & News Orleans railroad, led by the yardmaster, rushed to the scene of the delay on a switch engine, but the train responsible for the delay had moved. The yardmaster said he went to clear the crossings, but was notified of the delay too late to be of any service.
City police were delayed so long in answering an emergency call to Mesa avenue and Montana streets they were unable to investigate an accident reported there.
Fire officials said they had no fire alarms during the period, fortunately.
Exact time of the delay could not be determined. City police were delayed at Mesa avenue from 8:05 o’clock until 8:30 o’clock. They attempted to cross at all downtown streets, but found the crossings blocked, they reported.
Hence that is now the reason that the City of El Paso built a underground tunnel in the downtown area from the downtown railroads yards to the railroad station. Also more overpassses were built since 1930 so the trains crossing the main line that are passing thru El Paso won't be blocking traffic including emergency vehicles
Posted by: bigg3469 | June 22, 2009 at 03:37 PM