Blown Away: Tolar, New Mexico, 1944 

I remember it was once said to me, "Safety is a relative term since it only applies when nothing happens."

A "Forgotten" town and "Forgotten" History, brought back in Memory by The History Guy. Excellent report, Dear Sir!

This was a fantastic episode, exactly the kind of deeply significant history that would be forgotten except for the efforts of the history guy.

Never know what’s being carried on those trains passing through your town, till something bad happens.

We had something similar in Britain, not too long before this in the same year - a wagon in a train load of bombs caught fire approaching the town of Soham, in Norfolk. The engine crew, realising the danger, uncoupled the wagon and did their best to run it clear of the town; when it exploded it obliterated the station and did immense damage. Had it not been for the immense courage of Driver Gimbert and Fireman Nighthall, who stayed with their engine, it is quite possible that the whole town could have been destroyed. Both men received the George Cross, our highest civilian award for bravery, althoug, sadly, Nighthall didn't live to receive it.

I grew up in New Mexico, I'm amazed I have never heard this story… you sir, are keeping history alive.

While this was a horrific explosion, and came in the shadow of the deadliest war in human history, I’m still excited that the History Guy is shedding light on the history of my home county. Just too bad it had to be about the Tolar explosion.

Same event happened on 28 April 1973 in Antelope, CA just south of Roseville, CA. Bearing overheat set a box car on fire which was loaded with bombs destine for Vietnam. Pretty much wiped out Antelope.

Good Wednesday morning History Guy and everyone watching.

My grandmother was Mrs HH Smith mentioned @ 9:40 was the postmaster. Her mom was Mrs. Harris @ 7:15 I have heard the story many times and have visited the “homestead” a few times. Thanks for the memories and bringing this story to light!

The Wife Here Finally, Finally someone talks about my state of NM and the ghost town of Tolar, NM's history since it has been forgotten and it really isn't talked about even when history is being taught and New Mexico also, rarely teaches it's history in American history. Just the basics that any state learns about NM. I am Happy that You History Guy remembers history that needs to be remembered. New Mexico has a lot of history that nobody really remembers.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel The marker was put up in 2014. Before that, there was a time with no marker there, and before that, a marker for Stinking Springs, which was apparently just across the railroad from the marker, and reportedly the place where Billy the Kid surrendered to Pat Garrett on Christmas Eve 1880. Today, there is another place north of Gallup about 300 miles away called Stinking Springs. Tolar today has two or three homes and not much else. Interesting to note that people actually went to Melrose to shop. You'd be hard-pressed to shop for anything in Melrose today, other than in a convenience store, Fortunately, there are two places to buy fuel there now, along with a place to get tires repaired. Most people who live in this area (I live in Clovis) know the story of the "ammunition train exploding", and there is a report that they heard the explosion all the way up in Ima, New Mexico, some 30+ miles due north!

My home town, Roseville, CA, experienced a similar incident on April 28, 1973. I was 19 and was awakened by a loud explosion on a Saturday morning. Roseville was close to two AFB's, McClellan and Mather, and I assumed a plane had crashed. Roseville back then was the biggest switching yard west of Chicago and life still revolved around working for the Southern Pacific or the Pacific Fruit Express. A train going out of town developed, as in your story, a hot box. The train was carrying many tons of bombs that were destined for Vietnam. The train was no more than a couple of miles from my home. As the first explosion was followed by more it was obvious it wasn't a plane crash. My dad, who worked for the Southern Pacific, learned what was happening. My family was "shirttail relatives" with the then mayor of Roseville who had flown over the site and gave us more information. The small town of Antelope, CA, adjacent to the blasts, simply ceased to exist; wiped off the map. I took a drive through the area shortly after it was all cleared up. I had roamed all through the area as a kid and knew it well. I was amazed by what I saw. There was a large grove of oak trees that had to have been near 100 years old or more. They were very stout and healthy trees with thick branches as old oaks can have. It was very eerie to drive past them and see how the explosions had twisted the trees into strange and unnatural positions. It took my breath away. We had to evacuate from our home for the rest of the day and returned on Sunday afternoon. It was quite a memorable day when we came under shelling for a brief time. It brought Vietnam home in a more visceral way than I'd thought possible.

It's hard to fathom how vastly destructive an explosion this size is. Literally hurls the atmosphere you breathe through your life like a physical wall.

Didn't know there was a Tolar New Mexico. And thank you History Guy for pronouncing Tolar correctly. Also, could you do the New London School explosion. My grandfather helped with the rescue. I have pictures of the event, if you'd like.

My father was a conductor on the BNSF rail line that runs through Tolar. I've personally driven through Tolar hundreds of times. I also thought I had a real grasp of the history of that region, but apparently not. This is the first I've ever heard of it.

Train accidents wire me. I live in Butler Pennsylvania in a highrise for old people. I'm 62. Veterans and old people living here at Terrace apartments overlooking the train tracks and the creek. 12 times a day the train horn blows. Our building shakes a bit and it's every day life. But yesterday at about 4:25 am the train whistle blew and ran over a 55 year old man. Right out my window. They took him to Butler Memorial Hospital where he subsequently died. I love trains but I'll always remember yesterday. That's my history worth remembering. Prayers for him. Name not released yet till family is notified. Coal and steel country here. Those lines are important to us... but accidents stay sad forever.

I'm from Clovis, and my grandmother and aunt worked at the News Journal for years, i remember hearing about that growing up. Thanks for this episode, like you said, "it deserves to be remembered".

Portales resident, here. Quite appreciate the accuracy in historical accounts of our area.

I’ve been a fan of The History Guy Channel for years. Very well done and obscure and sometimes not obscure, but casting new light on an old topic where not everything has been shown.

Had heard some of the story from my grandparents back in the 80's. One set lived in Portales, one in Melrose. Used to go through Tolar and Taiban on the way to Fort Sumner. Now I know the rest.

Very well done and you even pronounce Portales correctly. Amazing that only one person was killed. Unfortunately, that stretch of highway from Melrose to Fort Sumner has claimed several lives in traffic accidents. Be safe when traveling that road.

I’ve lived in New Mexico for years, and didn’t know about the Tolar explosion until this moment. Than you, History Guy!

I always look forward to this show. It's even helped to improve a work place relationship where 2 guys have found their love of history more important than our selfish arguments. So, Thank you very much!!

These are the kinds of videos I love most. So many many towns and people history in the US that definitely 'deserves to be remembered'! Thank you! ❤

Having grown up in New Mexico, I've been through Tolar, NM several times. There are residents there today, but not many. During the Vietnam war, a trail carrying weapons exploded in the California town of ROSEVILLE. My Aunts and Uncles worked for the Southern Pacific at the time. I saw the area where the explosion took place, the devastation was mind boggling. I wish I had known about what happened at Tolar when I went through there. Thank God for The History Guy for saving the history that we ne to remember and never forget. THANKS!

Best channel on RU-vid

I grew up in Portales, born 1952, and through the years heard part of this story. Thanks for putting it together in a very informative and entertaining manner!

I'm from New Mexico, born and raised. I've never even heard of this story before!

Outstanding History Guy. Lots of history in New Mexico. This was one of your best.

Lived in Portales for over six years before moving to Albuquerque. I made that drive more than a dozen times and never knew this happened. That explains the historical marker that I passed every time. Thank you for the history lesson of such a little known place. I always enjoy learning something new. Especially something so close to home.

My youngest daughter and her family live in San Antonio, and the best way to drive to see her from Albuquerque is to go through Lubbock, a route that includes that stretch of road between Ft. Sumner and Clovis. I’m sure I’ll take more note of Tolar the next time we pass through.

Interesting. Good stuff Lance. Remembering where you were in life at certain points is always a benchmark of history as we remember it.

Good one. Thanks for posting these little known stories.

I may be among the few who have seen the Tolar Monument. I was casual traveling on US 60 last year and just happened to see it. Wondered about it but didn't know much about it until now. Thanks.

London is sitting with a time bomb in the river thames. A ship loaded to the gunnals with high explosive shells, and other forms of ammunition. And on a recent inspection, it isn't looking good for the ship, it's said if it goes up, it will decimate a good few miles of the river side and heavily damage anything in the river. 😢😮

I think this might be the first time I heard a model railroad magazine quoted in a standard history research video and that makes me very happy.

This reminds me a bit of the explosion that occurred in the city of West, Texas in 2013. Although I wasn't there at the time, I did pass through the town about a week or two afterwards. The scenes were similar.

I’ve never heard of this event before. This is why I love the History Guy’s videos. Always gonna learn something new.

Thank you, History Guy. You're doing important work.

I have driven that road between Ft. Sumner and Clovis 20-30 times over the years. Just barely recall Tolar as one of the wide spots in the road. May have to stop and poke around next time.

Travelled through Tolar, NM at least twice and had no idea what happened there; will search out the site next time I pass through! Always learn something for you.

I had heard of Toler, but it was from searching records for family who had settled in Roosevelt county. I grew up over the line in Amarillo. Great to know what happened to it. Thanks!

I'm guessing, having driven through there, Tolar still looks exactly the way it did after the debris was cleared up.

Great episode! Thank you!

Thank you so much for these videos

I see there were a bunch of us who remember the similar incident in Roseville, CA back on April 28, 1973. When it happened I was living in Rancho Cordova 15 miles south of Roseville. My father and I drove up there, picked up my grandmother and brought her down to our place. I was stationed at McClellan AFB in the communications unit as a ground radio repairman. The base's emergency command post vehicle was dispatched to Roseville but ended up having radio problems so they needed someone to look at it. That afternoon, when they couldn't contact the repairman on standby duty (he lived in the Roseville area and telephone service was affected), they contacted me. I drove to McClellan, grabbed my tool bag and reported to Base Operations. There they put me in a Huey and flew me to Roseville, where we orbited the site before landing. Unfortunately I couldn't fix the radio as the command post vehicle had radios designed for use in planes and I not only wasn't trained on them but didn't even have access to the repair manuals. All I could tell them that it wasn't repairable on site and would have to be taken back to the base.

Thank you for sharing!

I heard this story many years ago. I retired from BN&SF which included the old AT&SF Railroad. I've spent more time than I wanted in Tolar working on the track. I never did actually find where the explosion occurred. Thank you for giving a more detailed and complete explanation.

I’ve been through that area numerous times and can confirm. Tumbleweeds and dust. The only thing I’ve seen thriving is antelope and a couple deer and rabbits. It’s crazy to think people are living out there but having lived in cities and then out in the countryside it’s easy to see what keeps them there. Lonely and beautiful for it.

If you haven't already done one it would be interesting to see you do a video covering the Halifax explosion of 1917, which this story brings to my mind.

I remember as a kid during the Vietnam War, an explosives train blew up in the railyard in Roseville, CA. Houses near the railyard were knocked off their foundations, and windows were blown out of houses miles away. It was quite the scene.

I think @Part-Time Explorer needs to do an episode on this town! Thanks for the fascinating story!

1st time I heard of this event. Thanx Mr. History Guy.

My "Santa Fe" railfan friend and I drove from Flagstaff , where he was in school at NAU, to Kansas City (my hometown) in 1968. Chuck wanted to shoot the ATSF along the "cutoff" from Belen through NM (Mountainaire, Vaughn, etc) and on through Oklahoma. We stopped in Tolar and he regaled me with the story of the 1944 explosion. We poked around and found a chunk of a Bettendorf truck sideframe about 500 yards from where the explosion occurred. Coincidental - maybe or maybe from the big bang! Thanks for the story.

And the guy who died did so because he was watching the fire instead of running away. The Halifax munitions ship explosion killed hundreds in 1917, by the way. But that's Canada, and WW1. ;)

So awesome to hear this story my wife is a decendant of mr jesse brown who sadly passed in this event i got here this story from her family who still owns a peice of this land in tolar

I passed through here many times from 1961 to now and never knew the story. Always thought of it as a farm town with times gone bad and probably was once a railroad stop. Another sad story of towns on US 60. Still not as bad as the Dawson NM story.

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

Reminds me of Lewis, Indiana railroad explosion. Believe it was postwar. Entire town was leveled.

havent seen mrs history guy in a long time enjoyed your collaboration

Hey History Guy, the name of the town Tolar, reminds me of the origin of the word Dollar, and its connection to the Czech mountain town of Jáchymov. Perhaps you could make a video about the "Dollar." BTW, many Czechs emmigrated to Texas, so it is not a surprise that there is a town named Tolar there.

11:05 historical marker near MM 344 on NM Highway 60 / 84. Added marker to OpenStreetMap and linked to some articles from Tolar Wikipedia page.

I've known about Tolar for some years as my wife's father is from Melrose; he and his brothers used to go the the bar in Taiban in the late 1940s. It always surprised me that some of those small towns ever existed at all.

I've passed through Tolar many times over the years, including about a week ago. There's an old church in Taiban that was pretty photogenic. It's slowly but surely fading away. I've never stopped to look at the marker. I will now that I know it exists :)

Wowza... I am from New Mexico, and have taken several college level courses about the history of the state but have never heard of this.

On the plus side; it saved several people from having to eat corned beef from a can

Another EXCELLENT video

I've been to Tolar... dryed up wide spot in the road for sure.

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

I heard there was a similar event at the Roseville yard in California. Years later they were maintaining the track and found bombs buried from the explosions.

Years ago, my aunt was a Postmaster in Olive Branch, Mississippi, she referred to her as Postmistress. referring @9:41

good Job, as always!!

I live in New Mexico and I'd never heard of this.

Kinda reminds me of the USS Mount Hood in New Guinea and Adm. Nimitz glossing over it - "The exigencies of war and acceptable risk."

In the same period there were at least two other incidents involving ammunition in transit. The port of Oakland suffered an ammunition ship explosion. Auburn, Ca., had an ammunition train explosion many times larger than the one discussed here.

Love Mondays, Wednesday, n Fridays!

I moved to Clovis two months ago and work in Portales, so this was sure interesting to me!

A great story. Thanks again!

That's a very sad ending, 😢 in more ways than 1!

There's still a few ruins left at Tolar, though of course no one lives there. There is, however, a shady turnout with picnic tables for those needing a break on the drive from Ft. Sumner to Clovis. I know because I make that trip at least once a month...

Your endings always remind me of the end of the great story teller, Paul Harvey's, line: "And now you know the rest of the story"

An Event that would be perfect for your interest would be the huge explosion at Port Chicago when one ship originally blew up which set off a second Victory/Libery ships. My mother observed the pressure wave in her house over 50 miles away. But the history that screams for a telling. After the mess was cleared up several of the sailor Longshore men refused to go back to work until they received the proper training to handle explosives. This didn't go over well with the Navy instituted Muntiny charges. I'll let you research the whole incident. I'll help as much as I can as I've been researching this off and on for 50 years.

Remember the Naval Weapon Station, Port Chicago, California...a US Navy ammunition ship exploded, and blew up the loaded ship across the pier. All thats left of the base are the piers, some newer weapons handling facilities, and streets and sidewalks.

Pictures of the ghost town would have been awesome. Good video, thanks!

I never knew about that town and I've passed by it several times on highway 60.

Hi Lance. FYI the provided link Song "Highway Wildflowers" goes to a Vietnamese or Laotian music site. Unfortunate since I wanted to hear the full version of the outro which is most pleasing to the ear. Cheers from Ottawa, ON

I'd love for you to cover the four corners history

This happened in Roseville California when I was a kid in the early 70’s. The train was carrying bombs and blew up. It was devastating. Blew the windows out of my parents house.

Kind of like back in the 1970s at Southern Pacific’s Roseville yard in Sacramento a couple of box cars of ordinance blew up and did considerable damage

Thank you History Guy

Thanks again

Since the area had a record number of windmills back then, and virtually nobody lives there now, perhaps it would be a good place to build wind and solar farms for electricity generation.

Love this story, if it involves trains or history I am hooked. I am impressed by how poorly those old news-paper photos translate in digital format. Might work better if colorized, giving them impressionistic qualities. Adds to the presentation, nonetheless.

Lucky thing that Port Chicago was located where it was. Far enough away from civilization that its devastation didn't have a larger toll unlike Halifax, NS.

My children live along the railroad that passes through alamogordo Northrough Tularosa, Carrizozo, etc. all the train stations are gone.

The bearing that failed on the rail car, was likely the result of the "cotton waste" that is placed inside the journal bearing box to help oil coat the axle. Often a piece of the cotton waste would get lodged against the babbitt of the journal bearing cap. This would cause the bearing to be deprived of lubricating oil. The end of the axle would get very hot and boil out all the oil, maybe start the cotton waste on fire. The guy in the caboose it supposed to be watching out for this, with his post up in the cupula. Eventually the end of the axle gets so hot that it looses, structural stability and causes a derailment when the wheelset, is no longer able to stay in the correct alignment to roll on the rails. With modern roller bearings and hot bearing detectors at intervals on the rail lines, the hot box is mostly a thing of the past. It still needs to be watched though. The recent derailment in Ohio is proof of that.

I lived in the area for several years and never heard of it

I have see the monument. It is still amazing how far a train axel could be thrown by the blast.

Belen is pronounce Ba linn. Still an important train yard for BNSF. It is also the terminus of the commuter rail line, the Rail Runner