(The following article was posted on the Yuma Sun website on December 15. Brother Leonard was a member on BLET Division 5 in Los Angeles.)
YUMA, Ariz. — An internal Union Pacific investigation continues into a train collision that killed an engineer Friday in California.
“The cause is still under investigation,” said Mark Davis, regional director of public relations for Union Pacific.
Davis said the engineer, Kenneth Leonard, was flown from the scene with internal and leg injuries and later died at a hospital from a broken aorta.
Three other employees were treated and released and one required surgery for a fractured jaw.
The collision occurred at 7:45 a.m. MST one mile west of Niland, Calif.
One of the trains was traveling from Los Angeles to Dallas and the other was going from Chicago to Los Angeles. Both were intermodal trains.
“There was a total of five locomotives and seven cars derailed,” Davis said.
About 400 feet of track had to be relaid to get trains moving again. Davis said the track was reopened at 1:45 a.m. Saturday.
Another section of track was also being worked on in east Yuma County. Some passers-by may have called 911 thinking they saw a train fire Sunday night near Aztec, but Davis said the sparks were simply part of standard maintenance.
Davis said Union Pacific was doing rail grinding, which is used to smooth out rough areas in the track. He said a special car goes over the track with a laser to find rough areas that need grinding.
Then, Union Pacific employees follow up and grind the track into profile. He said lots of sparks are
created when this is done.
“When they grind it at night, it’s pretty spectacular,” Davis said.