(The Press-Enterprise posted the following article by Sarah Burge, Imran Vittachi and Dayna Straehley on its website on August 27.)
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Two separate freight trains derailed in the Inland area Saturday, injuring two railroad workers and causing a fire on a toppled locomotive south of Redlands.
Seven Union Pacific locomotives fell on their sides in a derailment near San Timoteo Canyon and Live Oak Canyon roads at 9:36 p.m. Saturday, spilling diesel fuel that caused a blaze on one of the engines, according to California Highway Patrol dispatcher Mark Riconosciuto and Capt. Jim Fuller of the Riverside County Fire Department.
The cause of the crash was unknown, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for the railroad. Davis said he did not know how fast the train was traveling on the stretch of Union Pacific tracks along San Timoteo at the time of the crash.
Two Union Pacific workers were taken to area hospitals with minor to moderate injuries, Fuller said. One of the two injured railroad workers suffered at least two broken bones and the other had cuts and bruises.
The diesel fuel fire still smoldered in one of the locomotives at 6 a.m. Sunday, sending up black smoke.
The diesel fuel from the locomotives was the only hazardous material spilled, Fuller said. A hazardous materials crew from the Riverside County Fire Department was working to clean up the spill into Sunday morning.
Davis said each locomotive fuel tank can carries up to 5,000 gallons. Davis said he did not know how much fuel the locomotives were carrying, or how much fuel was spilled.
Crews worked through the night to clear the tracks of wreckage and debris. The train derailed near a bend in the tracks along a downhill stretch, spilling the locomotives into three different areas.
The first three engines rolled off the track partially blocking San Timoteo Canyon Road. Two others were on their sides farther down, and two others rolled off an embankement and into the San Timoteo creekbed.
The string of seven locomotives pulled no cars, and were being relocated from Tucson to Colton, Davis said.
The derailment closed the intersection of Live Oak and San Timoteo. San Timoteo also was restricted to one lane from Redlands Boulevard to Live Oak, south of Redlands.
Road crews were asked to monitor the road closures overnight. No one would estimate when the roads would reopen.
A derailment earlier Saturday tore up tracks in Highgrove. It was the second derailment in that area in the past three months.
No injuries were reported, but the derailment about 12:30 p.m. led to the closure of at least three roads that cross the tracks. Rail crossings were shut down at Center and Main streets — between where the accident occurred — and farther south at Palmyrita Avenue in Riverside. Main Street extends east-west along the Riverside County-San Bernardino County line.
BNSF Railway officials did not return repeated messages left to find out when those roads would reopen.
More than 10 train cars came off the tracks owned and operated by BNSF, not far from where three BNSF cars derailed May 16. As of mid-Saturday afternoon, the crossings remained closed with barricades down and red signal lights flashing, as railroad crews and bulldozers moved to clean up the crash site.
None of the derailed cars, which carried double-decker shipping containers, were toppled over but they leaned to one side. The accident, nonetheless, left a trail of smashed railroad ties, kicked up gravel and at least two broken tracks.
BNSF workers at the scene referred all questions to a corporate spokesman, who did not return several calls Saturday seeking information.
Metrolink shares the tracks there with BNSF, which operated the cargo train. Metrolink spokesman Denise Tyrrell said one of the two tracks remains open. Metrolink trains will have to slow down as they pass but it should not affect arrival and departure times, Tyrrell said.
No chemical spills were reported, and authorities did not have to evacuate homes on nearby Commercial or Transit avenues. The two roads run parallel to each other on opposite sides of the tracks.
Transit Avenue residents Wayne and Jill Dunn were in their house when they heard the accident. From their front yard, they had an unobstructed view of the crash scene.
“I thought we were having an earthquake,” Jill Dunn said. “All of a sudden, it was a big dust cloud.”
Jim Morse, a Commercial Avenue resident, could not see the wreckage from his house but he also was at home when the crash occurred.
“We heard something unusually loud,” Morse said. “It seemed to get louder and louder.”