The Union Pacific Railroad train struck the semi around 3:05 p.m. on Willow Road at Track Road, just east of Franklin Grove, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.
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The same thing happened to a truck hauling chocolate syrup from the Hershey's plant in Oakdale about 35 years ago and not having anything better to do that morning, me and a buddy jumped in the truck to go take a look. Yeah, we were that bored.
As we approached the crossing, the flies were so thick that the scene of the accident looked like it was behind a shifting black screen.
A train had destroyed a trailer hauling chocolate syrup.
In the summer in California.
Right in between 2 huge dairies.
Yeah. Flies for days.
For two weeks afterward, any time you drove over that crossing you had to roll your windows up to keep the cab from filling up with flies.
Kenny,
ReplyDeleteIf you want sticky mess .. and I mean terribly sticky mess .. I direct your attention to the Jan 15th Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. A 2,000,000 gallon storage tank failed and East Boston was drowned in a tidal wave of molasses. A few people were buried/drowned in the sticky goo, and a number of horses were also killed. It was a warm January .. I'm sure there were bugs a plenty.
The Boston Molassacre.
DeleteI work in ag so flies are just part of it which explains why there's a flyswatter in every vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI got a cheap spray bottle at walmart and filled it with the 92% alcohol you can buy there. 1 spray and they drop dead. No fuss, no mess and it disinfects at the same time. Also works wonders on stink bugs especially if you can get their underside. -sammy
DeleteNoted, and thanks very much for the tip!
DeleteSounds like Chicago....
ReplyDeleteThat story about the chocolate syrup and the flies paints a heck of a picture.
ReplyDeleteThat Hershey's plant has been gone a long time now. I always enjoyed seeing it there when it was operating.
ReplyDeleteI hope the dairies are still there. They've been fleeing California too.
It's been a long time since I drove down the valley. I always used to marvel how the land was so productive back then. Probably not so much now.
Back in the late 1970s, a college friend saw a roadblock both ways to nab DUIs. He had an old 4WD F150, so he thought "let's cross over the RR tracks to get home". Well, it was steep, and guess what...stuck. Went back into the bar to get help, but Nortfolk Southern was 2-3 minutes away.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I worked in an old factory building on the Winnepesaukee river, right by a dam (the best little company by a damsite) anyway, between the hydro electric station and the wildlife in the river, it was a constant source of entertainment. One year the NH Dept of Fish and Game decided to stock Lake Winnepesaukee with Alewives (Bream) that they bred in their own hatcheries. The idea was that they would be feeder fish for the lake trout, bass and other game fish. It may be that they missed the bit about Alewives being migratory because at the end of the season they all decided to head for the sea. Between the ones that went through the turbine and came out the raceway as hash and the ones that went over the flash boards and fell 20' to the concrete spillway, the seagulls had a thanksgiving feast. Went on for two or three days, clouds of birds. A couple of years later they did the same thing with Elvers (Eels) and with the same result, though a little creepier looking. Good times.
ReplyDeleteHere in my hometown there is a steep winding hill on the South end of town. Back when I was a sprout the more adventures truck drivers would try it instead of going the extra mile or two around the more recognized truck route. A grocery store and the towns original Dairy Queen were located on a curve at the bottom of the hill.
ReplyDeleteThe grocery store set back far enough it never took a direct hit but a truck load of potatoes went over there once. The DQ wasn't so lucky, it got hit twice. Once by a load of Oranges and another time by a load of live chickens. There were chickens running around town for days.
Can you imagine 30,000 pounds of bananas...30,000 pounds of smashed bananas.
DeleteOr a smashed Volkswagen on the L.I.E?
DeleteThose flies remind me of the illegal hoard coming for taxpayer freebies.
ReplyDeleteAin't no self respecting bird or person gonna eat hamburger helper.
ReplyDelete