Tolar explosion to get historic marker

By Lillian Bowe
Staff writer
lbowe@pntonline.com

Randy Dunson knows history of the area of Roosevelt County and he noticed one incident is never talked about even though the generation who lived through it will never forget it.

“Your generation remembers exactly where they were on 9/11 and my generation remembers the Kennedy assassination, my parents and grandparents’ generation remember December 7th, but in this area they remember the Tolar train explosion,” Dunson said.

 

Dunson, a retired railroader, has written many stories about the incident for his railroader newsletter and thought the incident should be recognized. Now, he’s persuaded the state to issue a historical marker to help ensure generations will not forget.
In January, Dunson started to fill the application to put a the marker where the town of Tolar use to stand.

Usually the application takes three years to be reviewed and approved. Dunson told the New Mexico Historic Preservation Department that he wanted it done by the 70th anniversary, which would be Nov. 30.
“They were really excited about it and made it happen. I was completely shocked they got it done so fast,” Dunson said.
The historical marker with a 65 word limit at mile marker 344 on U.S. Highway 60 will tell the story of what happened to Tolar on Nov. 30, 1944.

It was noon on that day when a train carrying 160, 500-pound bombs — enough to fill four B29 bombers — caught fire and stopped at Tolar.
The bombs exploded, killing one person and destroying almost every building in the town. Windows shattered and roofs collapsed from the concussion of the bombs.
The reason the death toll was low was because most of the residents left their homes for work before the explosion and were out of town.
“It was very lucky that a year before, the schools got consolidated and all the school children were in Taiban,” Dunson said.

His grandparents in Taiban, about 4 miles west of Tolar, were rained on with quarter-size bomb fragments.
The blast could be heard from 60 miles away as Clovis residents reported their windows and doors shaking, Portales felt the tremors and windows were broken in Melrose and Forrest.
The blast left a crater 22 feet deep and 66 feet across and the town of Tolar would be no more. To this day a person can find bomb fragments, Dunson said.

A dedication ceremony is 2 p.m. Nov. 21 at the site reserved for the marker. Dunson said Johnny Eastwood of Eastwood Construction of Clovis and a former resident of Tolar will bring a bent railroad track from the explosion for placement next to the historical marker.
The marker, however is not at the actual site of the explosion. The marker is placed two miles east of where Tolar stood according to Dunson.

Dunson said if anyone still remembers the incident he wants to document it and take it to Eastern New Mexico University’s special collections at the Golden Library.
“I believe it should be important to keep records of what happened,” Dunson said.
Dunson can be reached at 575-760-3341 or at crdunson@yucca.net.