SAN FRANCISCO -- Salvage crews trying to recover a rail tank car full of whiskey from the San Francisco Bay have a pet name for their expedition: '20,000 litres under the sea.'
The 20,000 gallons of whiskey fell into the bay Sunday when stormy seas interrupted Santa Fe railroad's endeavors to transport it from Chicago to the Seagram's San Francisco bottling plant.
Divers from Podesta Divers and Construction Co. worked throughout the day Friday to attach a cable to the car and hoist it to the surface without spilling any of the booze.
'The last I heard they had hold of one end with a cable,' said Santa Fe clerk Dave Zanone. 'The tide was starting to act so they don't know what will happen.'
The tank car of whiskey, along with two boxcars loaded with newsprint that also went down in the stormy weather, is resting upright on sand in 27 feet of water.
