(The following article by Patrick Driscoll was posted on the San Antonio Express-News website on October 3.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Union Pacific officials, citing evidence that tampering was involved in last week’s train wreck, announced a reward of up to $5,000 for the arrest of whoever caused the thunderous crash and derailment.
“This is extremely dangerous,” UP spokesman Mark Davis said Friday.
The derailment occurred Sept. 24 after 50 cars were detached from a northbound Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train. They rolled backwards and hit a UP train at a switch in the tracks just east of Brackenridge High School.
More than two dozen cars derailed. The UP train included 14 tankers of sulfuric acid and five tankers of sodium hydroxide, both potentially deadly, but none was damaged.
An event recorder, similar to a plane’s black box, shows that the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train had come to a stop and was taking off when someone closed two air valves, which prevented brakes from automatically being applied as the detached cars rolled away, Davis said.
“Whoever it was tried to stop the train again,” he said.
For the cars to be uncoupled, there had to be some slack between them, but that could occur whether the train was stopped or moving. Officials don’t know if the train was moving when the cars were separated.
Tampering with air valves to stop a train or keep it from moving is often done by thieves who want to steal cargo, said Bruce Flohr, president of the Bexar County Rail District. It’s also done a lot in border areas so illegal riders can board or get off.
“It is a major problem in the United States, especially in the large cities,” he said.
Last week’s wreck was the third major derailment in San Antonio this year.
The first happened May 3, also near Brackenridge High School. Three men were injured and 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel spilled along the San Antonio River. Four cars that did not derail were carrying highly explosive propane.
On June 28, a collision in South Bexar County left three people dead and 49 sick or injured, mostly from chlorine gas. It was the nation’s deadliest chemical accident on the rails in more than a decade.
County Judge Nelson Wolff has been pushing to move railroad lines away from downtown since the first crash and is now asking Union Pacific, which owns all the local rail lines, for some immediate safety improvements.
Mayor Ed Garza this week asked Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, for help in getting federal agencies to investigate rail safety in the area.
“I am in total agreement with Mayor Garza on the need to identify and address any safety shortcomings in the San Antonio rail system,” Hutchison said Friday. “I will contact the appropriate federal agencies to ensure everything possible is done.”
For information about Union Pacific’s reward, call Crime Stoppers at 224-STOP.