Near Tolar in De Baca County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Explosion Rocks Tolar

Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025

1. Explosion Rocks Tolar Marker

Inscription. At noon on November 30, 1944, a World War II supply train hauling 165 five-hundred-pound bombs headed for the Pacific Theater derailed in Tolar. The train caught fire and the bombs exploded. The blast, which leveled nearly every building in town, could be heard 60 miles away. It vaporized 500 feet of track and sent a 1,500-pound axle crashing through a store and rolling out the back. One person, Jess Brown, was killed in the explosion after a piece of iron shrapnel struck his head. Tolar is two miles east of here.

2nd Marker
This section of train car undercarriage was propelled some 500 feet south of the track in the 1944 explosion at Tolar. It was donated by Mr. John Eastwood whose parents were in town the day of the tragedy.

Erected by New Mexico Historic Preservation Division.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • Railroads & Streetcars • War, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is November 30, 1944.

Location. 34° 26.972′ N, 103° 58.108′ W. Marker is near Tolar, New Mexico, in De Baca County. It is on U.S. 84 west of Cedarpost Road, on the right when traveling west. The marker is located along the highway. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Taiban NM 88134, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Eastern New Mexico

and in the Pecos Valley. It is also in the American Southwest,

on the Great Plains,

on the Southern Plains,

and specifically on the High Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Comanchería,

the Dust Bowl,

and the Republic of Texas.

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sectionhead>More about this marker. Because of news coverage of the Tolar explosion, officials of the Manhattan Project issued a cover story of an ammunition explosion on the Alamogordo Air Force Base on July 16, 1945, after the test of the first atomic bomb.

Also see . . . Tolar, New Mexico. Wikipedia (Submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

Explosion Rocks Tolar Marker - reverse side image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025

2. Explosion Rocks Tolar Marker - reverse side

The view of the marker along the highway image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025

3. The view of the marker along the highway

2nd Marker and Train Car Undercarriage image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025

4. 2nd Marker and Train Car Undercarriage

Credits. This page was last revised on April 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 421 times since then and 92 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.