(The following article by Sara Foley was posted on the Tyler Morning Telegraph website on August 17.)
PRITCHETT, Texas — The middle section of a Union Pacific train carrying steel, sand and paper scraps derailed alongside Texas Highway 155 just after 6 a.m. Tuesday, within 2 miles of where two other train derailments occurred in May.
Railroad employees, Department of Public Safety troopers and emergency crews worked throughout the day to clear debris from the 20 train cars that came off the tracks.
The 93-car train was en route from Pine Bluff, Ark. to San Antonio, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.
Workers attempting to clean up the muddy bottomland where wreckage was scattered soon had another problem – sinking equipment.
Workers said that of the eight pieces of equipment, including side booms, bulldozers and track hoes, six of them were stuck in mud.
Although workers initially attempted to salvage the wrecked train cars, workers determined that the damage was too extensive. Instead, the cars will be stripped down to scrap metal and hauled off.
The derailment occurred within yards of a residence, but no injuries or hazardous chemical spills were reported, Upshur County emergency management coordinator Greg Mandreger said.
Terry Johnson, who lives in a house near the train track, said he has become increasingly worried about derailments since the past two accidents.
“It’s something you need to worry about,” he said. “No telling what the trains have in them half the time.”
Davis said about 700 feet of track will have to be replaced, but it is unknown how long it will take. Until the track is replaced, trains will be rerouted, Davis said.
Union Pacific is still investigating the cause of the accident.
A study on the cause of the other two accidents has been completed but was not immediately available Tuesday, Davis said. However, he said recurring problems on particular tracks are a concern for Union Pacific.
“It’s something we look for when determining the cause, to see if there’s a common thread,” he said. “It’s definitely a focus of the investigation.”
Tuesday’s derailment had similar circumstances to the May 11 accident, where 21 cars derailed also while traveling from Pine Bluff to San Antonio. Only seven cars derailed in the accident that occurred three days later on May 14.
Mandreger said clean-up of the area would take up to two days and that it could take up to two months to get all the train cars scrapped and loaded away.
He said the full accident report that will determine the cause would take a few weeks to complete.