Page 144 - a-columbia-county-boys-recollections-and-memories-of-columbia-county-florida-(2012)-lenvil-h-dicks
P. 144
A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks
Now following is what Brad wrote right after the train wreck, and he tells it much better than I could.
On September 22, 1993, my wife, my mom, and I were involved in an accident while passengers aboard
the Sunset Limited. We boarded the train in New Orleans, La. for a return trip home to Lake City,
Florida. We boarded the train about twenty minutes before the scheduled departure time. Since our
destination was a small and brief stop, we hand carried our luggage to our car. As we boarded the train,
an attendant gave us our seat numbers. My wife and I were in the front portion of the car on the right
hand side. My mother was one row up and across the aisle on the opposite side of the car. She had an
aisle seat.
The train did not depart on time. There were some mechanical malfunctions that had to be taken care of
before we left. These delays put us about thirty minutes behind schedule. We took our seats and waited
for our departure. The same attendant gave us our cards that had our departure points on them. He then
stuck the card in a slot above our heads on the baggage rack. This was the last time we saw anyone that
worked for Amtrak before the crash.
My wife and 1 struck up a conversation with a couple from Long Beach, Ca. After talking with them for
a few minutes, my mother spoke up and asked where the nearest emergency exit was. The gentleman
sitting next to her said, "here it is", and pointed to the window right beside them. I had already taken a
mental note that there were no emergency procedure cards in the seat backs like the ones required on
airplanes. In addition, my wife looked for an Amtrak magazine to see if it would tell a little about the
train, and it was missing. If my mother had not taken the time to locate the emergency exit, our chances
of escape would have dropped to zero. All of this took place before we left the train yard.
After a short wait, the train left the station in New Orleans. My wife and I were asleep almost
immediately. The seats on the train were not as comfortable for sleeping as we would have liked, so our
sleep was not very sound. At one time, we woke up and changed seats with each other. This was the last
thing we remember before the crash. Later that night, we awoke to some hard jolting and loud noises. It
was dark outside, and we were unaware of exactly what was happening. Soon, we realized that the train
was wrecking. The jolts were real heavy, and it was throwing us around quite a bit. 1 sensed the car was
rolling to the right, and at that time, we were thrown from our seats. All of a sudden the car stopped, and
I saw a wall of water gushing in the front of the car. I have never been so scared in my life. I was sure
that I was trapped and would drown. There was no doubt about it, we were in big trouble. I yelled to my
wife, and I told her that we had to get out. I was looking for something for us to use to float on, but I
couldn't find anything. The strange thing about this part of the accident is that I didn’t hear any screams
and I didn't see anyone, not even the couple that was sitting next to us. I did see my mom and my wife,
and I instinctively went to the emergency exit that had been pointed out to my mom. The gentleman
sitting beside my mom was not in the car at the time of the accident. This allowed us to be first in line
for escape. The emergency window was designed in such a way that it was difficult for me to open, and
I was calm considering the situation. My wife and mom were huddled in the aisle beside me, trying to
help me get the window open. I could feel hands brushing up behind me, I am sure it was other
passengers behind me trying to get out. After we finally got the rubber grommet off, they helped me
push out the window. All of this took place within 15 to 20 seconds from the time we woke up. When
we exited the car, the water level was at least two-thirds up the window and the car had slipped
completely under within five seconds of us reaching the surface of the water.
I had a hold on my mother, and I called out for my wife. She answered me and that was such a relief. I
knew that God was with us and that somehow we would live through this ordeal. My wife can swim but
she was struggling every minute. My mom swims very little and was in such a state of shock that she
was unable to keep herself afloat. For the most part, I managed to keep her head above water most of the
time There were a few times that her head partially went under the surface and she swallowed water.
36
www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: B423BA50-F22B-4D87-A44C-403308C92982