Investigators Discount Sabotage in Minnesota Train Derailment

Federal investigators have concluded that Wednesday night’s derailment of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train in St. Paul, Minn., was not the result of sabotage. The FBI on Friday said, “If those findings are borne out, we will soon terminate our involvement in the case.”

The FBI is still investigating the possibility of sabotage in another Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train derailment--the fatal crash Feb. 1 in the Cajon Pass north of San Bernardino.

Both trains apparently lost braking power before they derailed, and investigators focused on the possibility that control levers on one or more cars had been moved into a position that could have crippled the brakes.

In the St. Paul derailment, which injured nine people, gouges on the lever that apparently moved have convinced investigators that the movement was caused by the impact of the crash, according to sources close to the investigation.

In the Cajon Pass crash, which killed two of the crew members and injured the third, investigators said the impact could have caused the movement but they have not ruled out the possibility that someone deliberately moved one or more of the levers before the train started down a steep grade.