Looking back: Snowboarders rescued below West Bowl; train derails at Olney
Railcars of a BNSF Railway freight train are derailed near Olney on March 1, 2014. (Matt Baldwin/Whitefish Pilot FILE)
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
March 7, 1974
Whitefish should have its own full-time telephone office according to the results of an opinion poll survey taken in the Whitefish business district by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce. Of 57 survey forms returned, 51 indicated “Yes,” they felt the Northwestern Telephone Systems should have a full-time office and secretary in Whitefish. Answering the question, “Do you feel the public schools here should have a closed campus?” 34 voted in favor of the closed campus and 19 opposed it.
40 Years Ago
March 8, 1984
The city manager selection committee handed over its list of six finalists to the Whitefish City Council. “We have concluded the job you have given us,” said committee chairperson Russ Ramlow as he gave the list to mayor Jim Putnam. Included in the finalists was city engineer Sid Fredrickson, one of nearly 100 candidates who applied for the job. Also selected as finalists were: John R. Adamson, Jack B. Arnold, R. Ben Bifoss, Craig H. Hubler, and David C. Weitzel.
30 Years Ago
March 3, 1994
A 16 year-old Whitefish snowboarder who spent eight hours lost with a companion in the Hellroaring Creek drainage north of The Big Mountain said he “wasn’t too bad off” but was awfully glad to hear the voices of search and rescue volunteers at 1:30 a.m. Jason Baldwin, 16, and his friend and snowboarding companion Tim Hobson, 15, both sophomores at Whitefish High School, nearly had to spend the night in a make-shift snow cave in sub-zero temperatures after they missed a skier-made access trail on the way down West Bowl above the Hellroaring Basin north of the resort. “It taught us to be more sure of what we are doing,” Baldwin said.
20 Years Ago
March 4, 2004
Fundraising for the WAVE topped the $3 million mark, project chairman Dan Weinberg said. “We continue to get amazing support from the community,” he said. “More and more people are becoming interested in seeing the project through to completion.” Significant gifts were received from the Mark and Patricia Kvamme family and the Bill Foley family. The project also received a $20,000 grant from the JTL Group. Another in-kind pledge was received from Doug Adams and Landscape Perfections West, who will design and install landscaping for the facility.
10 Years Ago
February 5, 2014
A BNSF Railway freight train hauling empty coal cars derailed from the main track in Olney, leaving behind an impressive jumbled mess of steel. About 45 train cars were tipped over, crumpled and accordioned west of the U.S. 93 underpass. One car was partially hanging over the trestle, while others were completely knocked off the tracks and piled on top of each other. No one was injured in the incident.