PECOS, Texas — Two crew members have died after a Union Pacific train collided with a tractor-trailer truck on Wednesday (Dec. 18) and derailed, sending railcars into a trackside building.
The second death, of an individual who had been transported to Odessa, Texas, in serious condition, occurred this morning, officials said during a press conference today. Pecos Police Chief Lisa Tarango said the deceased workers were “veteran employees” of the railroad. Union Pacific has identified them as engineer Clay Burt, 63, an employee since 1998, and conductor Phillip Araujo, 47, who had been with the railroad since 2012.
Three other people suffered minor injuries.
The incident occurred about 5 p.m. with a collision near Oak and Dot Stafford streets, and led to derailed cars hitting the Pecos Chamber of Commerce building, a former Texas & Pacific Railway station. Video circulating widely on social media shows the train hitting a truck carrying an oversized load that was blocking the grade crossing; Pecos city manager Charles Lino said officials would not address the specifics of the incident while investigators continue their work.
Individuals in the Chamber of Commerce building were among those who were treated for minor injuries and released. Ronald Lee, joint emergency services chief for Reeves County, said about two containers of hazardous materials from the train remain a focus of the cleanup, one of lithium-ion batteries and one of vehicle airbags, but that Union Pacific’s hazmat team says they are not currently a cause for concern.
Lee also said that the Chamber of Commerce building had suffered significant enough damage that no one is being allowed to enter the building until an engineer can determine it is safe to do so
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on X.com that it is sending a team of six investigators to the scene. Pecos city manager Charles Lino said the Federal Railroad Administration and Texas Department of Transportation were among the myriad of agencies involved in the investigation.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, in a statement today, said, “Our hearts go out to the families of the conductor and engineer who lost their lives” in the incident. The union said it is limited in what it can say about the incident because it is a party to the NTSB’s investigation, but that it “should serve as a wake-up call to legislators to improve rail safety all across the United States. All railroad accidents are avoidable.”
SMART-TD, the union representing conductors, also offered condolences in a statement and asked that its members not share the videos circulating on social media: “The friends and family of the two fallen railroaders are not helped by amplifying the spectacle of the accident. … As we mourn this loss, we also renew our commitment to fighting for stronger safety measures that will serve to better protect all those who work on and live near the rails.”
— Updated at 8:15 a.m. CT with NTSB investigation; revised and updated at 11:35 a.m. CT with new information from press conference. Updated at 12:30 p.m. CT with BLET statement; updated at 2:45 p.m. with names of victims. Updated Dec. 20 at 7:30 a.m. with SMART-TD statement.
Oh wow, I didn’t know the crew were killed 🙁
Isn’t permitting oversize/overweight highway moves a function of the Texas Department of Transportation? Or is that another piece of “unnecessary big government” in Texas which in this case could have saved the lives of two railroaders?
Was the contract for the escort service, er, uh, I mean *company* awarded to the lowest bidder?
In any event, this collision may ultimately result in court cases and added visibility to the issue. Everyone gets all up in arms when the railroad obstructs a grade crossing, but what about when highway users do the same?
And perhaps states could back down from their “free CDLs for everyone” policies?
Texas clearly (still) needs to reevaluate its energy policy, now while counting their blessings that this wasn’t a key train.
This is going to happen again.
If there isn’t already, there should be required coordination between an oversized permitted truck and the railroad, and that crossing should be treated as two railway crossings.
The crossing notification placards should be much larger so they are not overlooked. I have seen reports the truck had been stuck on the crossing for at least 45 minutes.
I believe everyone has addressed the issues in question here. It would be more tragic if the truck stopped because the gate came down midway through his load. He could and should have then stepped on the gas and let the gate shatter. Railroad crossing gates break rather easily.
Ah, that blue sign at every crossing with contact info provides another resource for the truck driver or on scene observer.
The truck driver should do jail time, but the citizens let those in Canada responsible for letting a town burn down and killing close to fifty people get off Scot free.
A majority of these oversized truck accidents seem to always happen in the South. I wonder why????
Is there actual evidence you have to prove where these accidents “always” take place?
Those crossing placards should be required training in ALL drivers education. And should be part of knowledge testing for obtaining a CDL. I, too, am awaiting the timeline for this. If the truck had been stuck on the crossing for a considerable amount of time then some people need to do some prison time.
I’ve read some social media posts that the truck was hung up for 45 minutes prior to the collision. If that is true there is no excuse for not notifying UP.
Witnessing a crash involving a CDL driver who was charged with Reckless Driving taught me that enforcement of the Rules & Regulations should be mandatory. When the CDL driver was called to testify at the trial, he was accompanied by his teenage daughter. When the judge asked him why, he responded in heavily accented English, “My English not so good.” The judge reminded that under penalty of perjury, he had stated on his CDL application that he was in compliance of its requirements. Including English comprehension. Still. he got off with a $100 fine, demerit points on his license, and a reduction of the charge to colliding. A “Reckless” conviction would’ve cost him his CDL, leaving him and his family to go on welfare. The driver he rear-ended was an avid tennis player before the crash. Because of the crash, he would never play again. Reinforced my faith in the criminal justice system…
This is really so sad. From a video it looks like a large pressure vessel. You can see the crossing lights flashing and the gate down, stuck on the top of the vessel midway down its length as a police motorcycle peels off and heads toward the oncoming train and the driver is on the ground with the escort vehicle stopped in front. So it would have to have been stuck at least 40 – 50 seconds before the train arrived for the gates to come down that far along the vessel. Maybe it is time for the railroads to sue the DOT, permits division, and shipper who chose the truck carrier for willful negligence and get a nuclear verdict.
I would like to see a time-line showing when the oversized load became stuck on the crossing and the time of the collision. Was there enough time to notify Union Pacific to stop trains? Such a tragedy. My prayers are with the families of the
engineer and conductor who were killed.
Nothing in this story says that it was a low-boy. Also not every oversize load requires an escort.
There are many videos of the accident on YouTube that show an oversized load stuck on the crossing. And you can see the escort truck.
That oversize load appears to be between 12 – 14 feet. That way the low boy has to be fairly close to the road. Maybe it hung up on the crossing? Many roads in TX have clearances higher than the national 13’6″ to clear oil rigs.
It may be the permit application may have not indicated it was a low boy? If so, dum de dum dum..
The escort personnel would likely have had that phone number handy already, perhaps also a railroad radio with access to the road channel or dispatcher. We’ll know more pretty soon I think.
I wonder if there were an opportunity for the driver to call the number posted on the crossing signals? Perhaps the train was too close already. Or, perhaps the driver was unaware fo the phone number posted at every crossing.
I have a question, is there any state or federal requirement for liability coverage on trucks hauling oversize loads?
Another train vs Tractor trailer crash…when will they ever learn?
When will they begin requiring railroad permits for oversized or low clearance loads to cross railroad tracks?
Oversized loads are required to secure a permit. All route aspects are outlined on the permit. Drivers are given explicit routing instructions to prevent clearance issues. I don’t know what happened in this crash but I suspect that the truck took a shortcut instead of the prescribed route.
We in the railwaymuseum business find ourselves moving rail equipment over the highway.
You MUST have insurance. Your permit application will include the route and dimensions: height, width, weight in particular. It’s best to field check the route in advance for impossible turns, potential high centers, low wires, etc.
Each RR grade crossing has a placard with the name of the RR, ID of the
crossing and the phone number of the dispatcher. That’s the RR Dispatcher who can contact an approaching train and stop it. MANY POLICE AND TRUCKERS DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACARD.