WASHINGTON — The use of a piece of maintenance-of-way equipment to move steel grating panels, with an attachment not designed for that purpose, was the probable cause of a September 2021 fatality involving a contract worker on the Union Pacific near Castroville, Texas, according to a National Transportation Safety Board accident report issued Thursday. The […]
CHICO, Texas — Two crew members were injured Sunday evening when a Union Pacific train struck another train parked on a siding north of Fort Worth, WFAA-TV reports. The collision occurred about 7 p.m. in Chico, about 45 miles north of Fort Worth on UP’s Duncan Subdivision, and involved a southbound train. Three locomotives and […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Full TEXRail service to downtown Fort Worth has been restored as of 4 p.m. CDT after a disruption earlier today because of a freight train derailment, transit agency Trinity Metro said in a Twitter post. Service between the normal terminus of TEXRail service, the Fort Worth T&P Station, and the North […]
HUGOTON, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and other officials were on hand Wednesday for groundbreaking ceremonies to mark the beginning of $15 million in improvements for the Cimarron Valley Railroad. KSCB Radio reports funding includes money from private sources, from the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program, and from […]
HOUSTON — At least five people were injured Tuesday night when a METRORail train and Houston Fire Department ambulance collided in downtown Houston, according to media reports. KPRC-TV reports the accident occurred about 9 p.m. when the light rail train hit the ambulance as it was making a turn in the 6500 block of Fannin […]
Missouri Pacific 2-8-4 No. 1119 rolls a southbound freight over a new highway bridge at Austin, Texas, in 1948. Bruce F. Wilson photo […]
WYNDMERE, N.D. — Thirty-one cars of a 70-car Canadian Pacific train derailed late Sunday in rural North Dakota, spilling liquid asphalt, KVRR-TV reports. Richland County Emergency Manager Brett Lambrecht told the station 31 cars derailed and that while the liquid asphalt is flammable, it cools and solidifies in the snow at the derailment scene, decreasing […]
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Legislature is placing on hold a bill that would require trains to have two-person crews while federal regulators consider the issue, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Legislative Bill 31 was introduced in January by state Sen. Mike Jacobson (R-North Platte) and was awaiting action by the legislature’s Transportation and Telecommuncations Committee. […]
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signed a bill authorizing $6.25 million in state funding for the rehabilitation of the Sisseton-Milbank Railroad, a 37-mile short line with a badly deteriorated right-of-way needed to move agricultural products. KXLG Radio reports Noem signed Senate Bill 16 earlier this week. The appropriation from the state’s […]
McPHERSON, Kan. — A broken wheel is believed to have caused Sunday’s derailment of a Union Pacific train in McPherson, leading to a spill of denatured alcohol, the Associated Press reports. The derailment Sunday morning ignited a small grass fire in addition to causing the alcohol spill [see “Union Pacific train derails …,” Trains News […]
McPHERSON, Kan. — Thirteen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Sunday morning, starting a small grass fire and leading to a leak of denatured alcohol from two of the cars, KSN-TV reports. The derailment was reported about 9:40 a.m. McPherson Fire Chief TJ Wyssman told the station crews from Union Pacific, hazmat teams, and […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas has joined the list of states considering legislation to limit the length of freight trains. Senate Bill 271, introduced at the request of state Sen. Mike Petersen (R-Wichita) would limit trains to a length of 8,500 feet. It also requires rolling stock stored on sidings to be at least 250 feet […]
