(The following article by David L. Teibel was posted on the Tucson Citizen website on August 5.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — Eight railroad cars derailed just outside Marana on Friday night, hitting three vehicles but injuring no one, authorities said.
Authorities were unclear whether the vehicles were unoccupied when parked at a business near the train wreck.
Mark Davis, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman, said the train was serving businesses in the Tucson area and was on a siding when the cars derailed.
He said that he did not know why the cars derailed, but that the derailment did not tie up train traffic. He said the train should have been going no more than 10 mph on the siding, but he did not know its speed when the cars derailed.
Katherine Heiden, a Northwest Fire/Rescue District spokeswoman, said the cars derailed about 6:30 p.m.
She said the westbound Avra Valley entrance to Interstate 10 was blocked by the wreck. Davis said Union Pacific expected to have the wreck cleared by this morning.
The train was going under the I-10 overpass, heading into the CTI Inc. yard, in the 11100 block of North Casa Grande Highway, when the cars derailed, Heiden said.