By Kyle Cheromcha, The Drive; March 14, 2019
A unusually powerful “bomb cyclone” storm system sweeping across the central United States blasted New Mexico with rare hurricane-force wind gusts on Wednesday, blowing roofs off houses, overturning semi-trucks on rural highways, and in one dramatic case, sweeping a freight train right off a railroad bridge.
New Mexico State Police confirmed high winds of around 80 mph derailed the rear 26 cars of a Union Pacific freight train as it crossed an elevated span over the Canadian River near the small town of Logan on Wednesday afternoon. The cars fell at least 40 feet into a broad ravine, landing upside down in a crumpled line of smashed containers and overturned flatcars. It could easily be a model train set tossed around by a child.