Camp children on tracks halt Alaska Railroad train
Jul 19, 2012, 7:29 PM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska Railroad train made an emergency stop when its engineer spotted dozens of children and their summer camp escorts on tracks south of Anchorage.
Railroad spokesman Tim Sullivan tells KTUU-TV (
http://bit.ly/MupSN0) that the engineer hit the brakes Wednesday morning near scenic Bird Point after seeing nearly 50 children and a dozen leaders from Camp Bear Valley spread out along three-tenths of a mile of track.
Tourists Derrell and Dot Dore say the children were sitting on railroad tracks, taking pictures.
The Spencer Glacier train was traveling at about 40 mph and stopped 500 feet from the campers.
The director of the Bear Valley Community Association says the children were never in danger but railroad police issued her a reckless endangerment citation.
The Bear Valley Community Association says it did not approve of the activity.
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Information from: KTUU-TV,
http://www.ktuu.com
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
