BRANSON, Mo. — Normally, roller coasters make a lasting impression on people who visit amusement parks. For a number of people last night in Branson, it was a train — and a Joplin woman was on it.
The Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train went off the tracks last night at Silver Dollar City shortly after 6 o’clock. An investigation into how it happened continues — but according to the Missouri Fire Marshal’s “Amusement Ride Safety Unit” — the train had an up-to-date operating permit.
160 people were on board. 7 were taken to a hospital with injuries — including Cindy Sundy from Joplin. She was there with a couple of friends — also from Joplin. Her injuries — severely bruised ribs and sore wrists.
“If the train hadn’t fallen to the right, because there was a hillside there and that caught the top of the train so no one was like trapped between that, I kind of fell out of the window and, of course, tried to brace myself with my hands because that’s what you do when you’re falling out of a train. But, if it had gone the other way, it would’ve been so much worse, so much worse,” Cindy said.
Sundy says park officials and emergency responders were on scene relatively quickly last night — and an official from the park reached out to check on her this morning.