Train Derails in Commerce, Blocks Street

The midsection of a 140-car freight train derailed across an intersection in the City of Commerce on Monday night, blocking automobile traffic for a mile in each direction.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said about 25 cars of the Southern Pacific train, westbound on Union Pacific tracks from San Bernardino, derailed in the 7800 block of Telegraph Road, blocking Slauson Avenue under the Santa Ana Freeway.

No injuries were reported, all cars were upright and a spokesman for the railroad said none of their cargoes was dangerous.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Reid said cause of the accident was still under investigation.

County fire dispatcher Clark Pearson said the cars apparently derailed because of a failure in the track.

“It sounds like the track broke out from underneath or something like that,” Pearson said.

Several of the cars struck freeway overpass support beams, and Caltrans crews were called to the scene to assess damage. They later said the structure was sound.

Traffic on Slauson Avenue was backed up as far as Rosemead Boulevard to the east and to Eastern Avenue to the west.