PECOS, Texas — The Union Pacific train involved in Wednesday’s fatal derailment was going about 68 mph before beginning an emergency brake application, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement today (Friday, Dec. 20).
Maximum speed on most of UP’s Toyah Subdivision, including in Pecos, is 70 mph.
Two Union Pacific crew members were killed when the train hit a truck stopped on a grade crossing of U.S. Route 285 (Cedar Street) on Wednesday afternoon [see “Two crew members killed …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 19, 2024]. That truck was carrying an oversized load — a base for a wind turbine, which was thrown by the impact into the nearby Pecos Chamber of Commerce building, a former Texas & Pacific Railway station.
All four head-end locomotives and 25 intermodal well units derailed. The event recorder from the lead unit has been recovered and is being transported to the NTSB material lab in Washington.
Still to be determined, the NTSB said, is how long the truck was on the tracks prior to the collision or if anyone had attempted to contact the railroad through the emergency number posted on a placard at the crossing. The agency is also asking eyewitnesses or anyone with video of the collision to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
The agency will release a preliminary investigation report within 30 days. A final report will take 12 to 24 months.
Meanwhile, Joe Keese, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, told KOSA-TV that he and two other people were in the building at the time of the derailment.
“I thought I was going to die,” Keese said. “For the grace of God, we’re still here. … I put my back against the wall and stood there while the building fell around us, and what we didn’t realize is the train kept coming, because those cars kept piling up on top of each other. It was banging the front wall.”
Keese was uninjured; his assistant had problems from dust inhalation, he said, while a schoolteacher who was also in the office was thrown into a desk and injured. The Chamber of Commerce will be moving to a temporary home because of damage to the building, he said.
Folks we all have opinions and opinions are like rear ends in that we all have one. But in this case, and with the myriad of ideas floating around about what actually happened, I believe it is best to let the NTSB Investigators, who by the way are very good at their jobs, do their investigative work and give us all the facts based on eye witness accounts that have been verified and corroborated, by the data gleaned from the event recorders, health information regarding the primary parties involved as required by law and any other information that comes to light, and then we will know, and have factual information and not random opinions like what came out of some of the other recent major rail incidents when too many people commented because the TV lights were in their faces and they actually didn’t know what the heck they were talking about. The NTSB gets it right about 99.9% of the time WHEN ALL THE PARTIES COOPERATE. Maybe some day all mainline crossings will be equipped with optical sensors or similar equipment that uses AI to prevent this kind of failure in the system. But until then, let’s be patient and wait for the pros to give us the facts. Then responsibility can be meted out and changes made to reduce the chances of it happening again.
rip to the crew and ther famlies, have to be better aler system at grade crossing this happens to many times the crews get the worst of it the drivers of these trucks should be charged with manslager and never drive a big rig again. the railroad also must take part of blame
That was not the base of a wind turbine. It was a high pressure vessel that is part of a natural gas plant (demethanizer tower?).
That didn’t look like the base of a wind turbine to me. Looked more like a high pressure vessel (demethanizer tower?) for a natural gas plant. These are built to undergo very high pressure, which explains the comparatively minor dent it received in the collision compared to the train.
https://www.boardmaninc.com/fabrication/trayed-towers-columns/demethanizers/
I cannot believe given the line-of-sight available and the surety of a collision with a big visible blocking object that the speed of the train was only lowered from 70 to 68. Casey Jones-ing it?
This corridor is becoming notorious for accidents. The collision/derailment at Monahans, the striking of the parade float in Midland, now this in Pecos. Is it literally the ‘wild west’ out there?
Mr. Farmer The article states that the train was traveling at 68 mph before beginning an emergency brake application. Not that it hit the truck at 68 mph
For Michael — the information that there is a call sign (with location number) at every grade crossing is part of the CDL training. That, however, doesn’t mean that the nut holding the steering wheel remembers that detail. Perhaps I am feeling vengeful, but in my humble opinion the truck driver, the pilot car driver, quite possibly the cop seen in the video standing around watching, the State agency employee who approved the route, and the oversize load company who planned the route should all be charged with negligent homicide.
JAMES HALL – FWIW A friend of mine (R.I.P.) who issued oversized permits for Wisconsin DOT was a knowleadgeable railfan. But one would hope that all DOT permit issuers railfan or not would do their job with competence.
As for CDL holders, that’s no guarantee. People who read these pages know of incidents where big highway rigs got hung up on rail crossings with extremely unhappy endings.
I would hope that the last line of defense would be the insurance companies who would ask questions before writing coverage for trucking companies. Like this queston: Who is it that is the “nut holding the steering wheel”.
Let’s not forget that drivers of personal vehicles (non-CDL) also are responsible for preventing tragedy.
Just to add to all this. Was that road part of a repaving project or repair that altered the profile? Did such work get transmitted to other agencies?
Did any of this happen before or after the permit was issued?
There are so many questions which need attention. Before we hang the driver, let’s find out some real answers.
For Allan…Looking at Google Earth Street View of the crossing, it does appear the crossing was rebuilt in the last couple of years. However, there are multiple large gouges in the pavement visible at the crossing telling it isn’t the first time a trailer has high-centered here.
Also of note, in addition to the DOT blue signs on the signals themselves, UP has an 18in sign on the relay bungalow in the northeast quadrant of the crossing maybe 25′ from the tracks with ALL crossing numbers, milepost locations and the 800 number to call prominently displayed on it!
As a CDL holder, it is ultimately the drivers responsibility to travel safely. For wide example, if nobody told him in the permit there was a river there and the pilot car drove in, its up to the truck driver to not go swimming, plain and simple.
Maybe there needs to be a national rating system of RR crossings paid for and maintained by the permit fees since some low some trailers may clear at any given location, others won’t. This may entail actually measuring the clearance after loading to pick a suitable route, but these kinds of crashes shouldn’t be allowed to continue to happen in this day and age. Violations and heavy fines need to be following to discourage trucking companies from these issues. In this case, maybe a test run of an identical, empty trailer with proper railroad notification would have told them all they need to know. Now, two people are unnecessarily dead, millions have been lost, and they can deal with lawyers for many years.
Have you even had CDL training? I don’t know when or if you took your CDL training, but when I took mine the blue signs hadn’t even been thought of, so it was never in my training. My CDL license predates the blue signs.
Where is the truck driver? Did he/she not get instructions on a specific route to avoid problem crossings, or did the truck take an improper short curt?
Presumably, the truck company is responsible to pay the railroad for all damages and claims. I wonder if any of the locos can be salvaged.
Most locomotives can be salvaged these days. The biggest deterrent to salvage is whether or not the loco was involved in a major fire, and even then it is amazing what back shops can do to repair burnt “hulks” of the original unit. Many locomotives today are compartmentalized which means replacement of main damage in a compartment while the rest is just refurbished (Paint, decals, etc;) The ones that can’t be repaired are stripped to the bone of usable parts and then whatever can’t be saved is sold for scrap.
Police departments need to be trained that when they receive a report of a blocked grade crossing and it is a well used railroad main, they need to post someone 1 mile up the track in both directions ready to give a washout signal to any approaching trains–too often they just hang around at the crossing.
You are correct in Texas: State, County, and Local Leo’s have no training in what to do if a Grade Crossing is Fouled or how to correctly stop a train. The only common denominator for stopping a train is a red flare in the middle of all mainline tracks a mile or more in both directions from the fouled crossing. Police use them with major wrecks and Railroads have used them for at least 150 years.
Maybe it is time for the RRs to go to every law enforcement office at briefing time and tell the importance of the blue signs???
Alan; your response is spot on! The railroad industry needs to spend some money on TV and internet ads advising not just law enforcement but, motor carriers and the public of the blue ENS signs. Too many people are clueless to the existence or purpose of these signs and that needs to be addressed more aggressively than simple reliance on Operation Lifesaver.
Why is the focus never about how long the truck was stuck on the track and why its not basic CDL 101 training to know that one must call the emergency numbers posted all over rail crossings to try and have the trains warned or stopped. It seems that the police often don’t even know this.
Perhaps you missed this paragraph in the article: “Still to be determined, the NTSB said, is how long the truck was on the tracks prior to the collision or if anyone had attempted to contact the railroad through the emergency number posted on a placard at the crossing.”
Yep, but there sure are enough suggestions on what the railroads need to do. Let’s start with charging the truck driver and escort driver with at the very least manslaughter charges.
Yeah my posting was related to all of the press focus. Rarely is it questioned about the posting or time on track. Now we know it was like 3 hrs so no doubt the trucking company is responsible for 2 deaths and millions in damage over stupidity.
Where did your 3 hour time frame come from? The only official statement I have seen for the time frame the trailer was stuck was from the NTSB and they said the trailer was stuck about 1 minute before the train hit it.
I have seen 30 minutes, 45 minutes and now your 3 hour time frames, but it seems like all the excessive time frames are from internet keyboard warriors.