(The following article by Jeremy Twitchell was posted on the Deseret Morning News website on July 7.)
VINEYARD, Utah — Union Pacific cleanup crews worked well into the night Wednesday, hoping to remove all signs of the train that derailed just before 2 p.m.
Crews planned to use cranes to lift the two engines and five cars that derailed, then fix the damaged track underneath them. John Bromley, a spokesman for Union Pacific, said cleanup for a derailment of this size usually takes about 24 hours.
Meanwhile, investigation teams from Union Pacific have begun the process of figuring out why the train jumped off the northbound track adjacent to Vineyard Road just north of Gammon Road.
“There’s an open investigation,” Bromley said. “Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
The investigation could take months, but officials at the scene had already formed some possible theories.
“Some speculation is that perhaps when (the train’s engineers) were slowing down for the red light above us here, that they may have had an air hose that failed and broke,” said Lt. Doug Edwards, of Orem Police.
“I think the safety system on these things is that everything just locks up, which just caused a chain reaction of cars smacking one another.”
Two of the derailed cars tipped over, spilling their load of gypsum board and sending a shower of sparks into dry reeds along the track that ignited a small brush fire.
Greg Roper was working at a farm across the street when the accident occurred.
“I was taking a load over to the other field there, and on my way back over, I heard something that sounded like air brakes, only louder than usual,” Roper said. “I looked over at the train and saw it was tipping.”
Roper and some of the men working with him immediately noticed the fire and rushed to stop it from spreading.
“The fire wasn’t very big when I got to it,” Roper said. “I got a load of dirt with my loader and tried to dump that on it to slow it down, but it was spreading too fast. We were just trying to stop it from spreading north and reaching the engines.”
The fire was soon beyond their control, however, and they decided to get out of harm’s way.
Orem firemen arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and were able to put the fire out in a matter of minutes. One fireman said Roper’s actions provided a big help.
“If you can get something to knock the fire down early, it’s a help,” said David Forsyth, an engineer with Orem Public Safety. “Obviously water is best, but dirt works well too.”
Forsyth said it was fortunate that the fire began near the freight cars and did not reach the engines, because a 2,000-gallon fuel tank on the final engine ruptured and spilled about 30 gallons of diesel fuel on the ground.
Officials at the scene were initially concerned by some tanker cars a little farther down the train that were carrying nitrous oxide, but a careful examination showed they had not been compromised.
The train created some traffic problems early on, blocking Geneva Road at 400 South in Orem, but Union Pacific engines approached the train from the back and hauled away the cars that were still on the track at 3:15 p.m.
Bromley said this track sees at least 14 or 15 trains per day, including a daily Amtrak passenger train. A number of trains have been put on hold while the track is repaired, because it would take even longer to reroute them.
Workers at the scene said they hoped to have the southbound track up and running late Wednesday night to allow some of those trains through. The southbound track sustained only minor damage, but it was blocked by one of the derailed cars.