Engineer’s Brake Work Blamed in Derailment

Human error was blamed for a train derailment in San Timoteo Canyon earlier this month that scattered 22 rail cars and three locomotives from two trains along the tracks.

An engineer’s handling of the brakes as the first train came down a grade triggered the Sept. 7 accident, Union Pacific Railroad spokesman John Bromley said. Speed wasn’t a factor, investigators said.

Bromley declined to discuss specifics about how the brakes had been applied. He said a rail car wheel popped off the track, and that triggered the derailment of other cars.

The train “compressed like an accordion” as it came down the grade, he said. “We’ll take whatever corrective action is needed. We strive to run a safe business all the time,” Bromley said.