(The following article by Renee C. Lee was posted on the Houston Chronicle website on September 16.)
SHEPHERD, Texas — A Houston-bound Union Pacific Railroad train struck another train on the same track in a head-on accident Thursday, killing a crew member and forcing the evacuation of residents in this small town.
San Jacinto County officials also closed schools for the day.
About 500 to 600 people had to leave their homes but returned when officials lifted the evacuation about six hours later.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said a manually operated switch that guides a train from one track to another is the focus of the investigation. Officials are looking into whether human error is involved, Davis said.
The moving train was traveling from Pine Bluff, Ark., to Houston when it was mistakenly guided to the right off the mainline track onto a side track, causing it to hit the standing Union Pacific train about 12:15 a.m.
”We need to determine how and why the switch did that,” Davis said.
He said one of the three crew members on the standing train died. His name was not released pending notification of relatives.
Davis said officials do not know how fast the moving train was traveling when it struck the other train.
The accident derailed three locomotives, 14 tanks and three hoppers on the moving train. The standing train, which serviced companies in the area, had two locomotives and five cars derailed.
Evacuation ordered
Nearly eight hours after the accident crews with heavy machinery worked to lift and remove the moving train’s locomotive, which came to rest on its side, off the track. The locomotive of the standing train remained on the track but had a huge dent in the front.
The threat of possible hazardous materials spillage from the tank and rail cars prompted San Jacinto Emergency Management Services to immediately evacuate residents within a half mile of the accident as a safety precaution, said county spokeswoman Judy Eaton.
”The fire department and neighboring fire departments knocked on every door,” Eaton said.
Officials directed residents to emergency shelters at the civic center, the high school and an elementary school.
Eaton said county officials closed the schools, partly because an elementary school is just west of the railroad tracks where the accident happened.
Residents were allowed to return home shortly after 6 a.m., once railroad officials determined that the rail and tanks cars on both trains were empty.
The accident damaged about 360 feet of tracks. Railroad officials replaced them and reopened the tracks by late Thursday afternoon.
Investigations under way
Ashley Simmons, 15, who lives near the railroad tracks, said she heard a loud crash after midnight Wednesday.
“I was up watching TV and I was just going to bed. I pulled the covers up and I heard a boom,” Ashley said.
She said the entire house shook. Then she heard about the wreck on her parents’ fire department scanner.
Davis said he did not know when the multi-agency investigation of the accident would be complete. Officials from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Texas Railroad Commission were on the scene Thursday. National Transportation Safety Board officials are expected to arrive today, he said.