No One Hurt as Train Derails, but Rail Service Is Disrupted

Yet another freight train derailed Friday--this time due to a broken track near Barstow. The incident caused no injuries but disrupted Amtrak and freight service into Southern California.

Friday’s crash, the fourth involving freight trains in the United States this month, shut down the two main tracks used by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and Union Pacific railroad between Los Angeles and points east, and forced hundreds of Amtrak passengers aboard two trains to take buses around the site.

Both tracks were expected to be reopened for service by this morning, officials said.

The crash occurred when an 86-car train from Kansas City, Kan., was approaching a rail yard in Barstow early Friday, said Mike Martin, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe. A section of the track broke as the train was moving over it, Martin said, derailing 16 of the cars, including two chemical tank cars that did not rupture.

The derailed and toppled cars also contained farm machinery, glass bottles, military vehicles, frozen meat, grain, lumber and corn syrup. The train’s four locomotives remained on the tracks.

About 250 Los Angeles-bound passengers aboard the Amtrak Southwest Chief from Chicago were bused from Kingman, Ariz., to Barstow, and 182 Amtrak passengers heading east from Los Angeles were bused from Barstow to Kingman, an Amtrak spokesman said.

About 50 freight trains that were scheduled to use the two tracks Friday were halted on either side of the derailment, with the logjam of freight expected to loosen over the weekend, Martin said.