Southern Pacific Railroad Roseville Yard Disaster Aftermath 1973

On April 28, 1973 a massive series of explosions and fire destroyed much of Southern Pacific's Roseville yard and virtually wiped out the little town of Antelope.
Catastrophe struck when rail cars loaded with 250-pound bombs from the Hawthorne, Nevada Naval Ammunition Depot exploded in Southern Pacific's Roseville yard. The cause was never definitively determined because most of the proof was pulverized.
These scenes are from original 8mm film footage by Alan Shifley and Gary Bond taken a couple of weeks later. The yard had been restored to service although there were still massive piles of debris remaining.

[@jjxtwo1]

My grandparents lived in Roseville then. I remember calling them to see if they were alright and I could hear the explosions over the phone. Just constant explosions. Fortunately they lived on Sierra Bl. by the high school and were a good distance away. I visited them soon after and my grandpa drove me over to where Antelope had been. We couldn't tell exactly where we were even though we were very familiar with Antelope. But there were just no landmarks or buildings left to be able to figure out what was what. It's hard to believe that was nearly 50 years ago.

[@richierich2048]

Just for clarity, damage to the railroad was limited to the Antelope Receiving Yard where the explosion(s) happened, which then as now only makes up a portion of the Roseville yard complex.

[@wkvrailroad9355]

Yes, thank you for the clarification 👍

[@ornelaskev1988]

Wow I live right by here and grew up down by the antelope side