Vandals Disable Switch But Train Avoids Derailment

A Los Angeles-bound Amtrak train carrying 400 passengers avoided derailment by stopping less than one-quarter mile away from a track switch in Northridge that had been vandalized by juveniles, officials said Sunday.

The Coast Starlight from Seattle was delayed from about 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday while the incident was investigated, said Bob Hoppe, spokesman for Southern Pacific, which owns and maintains the tracks.

One of the juveniles, a 7-year-old boy who returned to the scene, was detained by the train’s crew and held until Southern Pacific security officials could question him, Hoppe said. He was later released.

A group of about six youths seen near the tracks apparently found a way to break a heavy padlock and move the 4-foot-long arm that operates the switch, said Hoppe. He said a 7-year-old could not operate the switch on his own.

“I don’t know how the lock was undone,” said Hoppe. “It’s not easy to break the lock. We try to do everything we can to make it impossible.”

Collision Avoided

Had the train not stopped, it would have been shunted onto another track and collided with parked boxcars, Hoppe said.

But Amtrak spokesman John Jacobsen in Washington said the derailment could not have occurred because electronic sensors alerted Southern Pacific track operators well in advance that the switch was not operating correctly. The train’s engineer was alerted to the problem by signals along the track and stopped the train in time.

Maintenance personnel sent to the site, near Wilbur Avenue and Parthenia Street, discovered that debris had been jammed into the switch mechanism.

“It was simply a delay to our train,” Jacobsen said.

He said track switches in the Los Angeles area are vandalized about twice a month.

Hoppe said Southern Pacific investigators will attempt to locate the other youths. If they are found, they could be charged with criminal trespassing or vandalism, he said.