Overhead derailment ties up traffic on Highway 360 in Arlington - railcar hanging like a chad

The Dallas Morning News ^ | December 18, 2002 | By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Overhead derailment ties up traffic on Highway 360

Union Pacific blames human error; no injuries reported

12/18/2002

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON - A Union Pacific locomotive veered into two railcars traveling on parallel tracks Tuesday, triggering a derailment that left one of the railcars hanging precariously over a busy freeway and tying up traffic for miles, officials said.

About 10:45 a.m., a railroad worker switched a westbound locomotive onto a parallel track occupied by a westbound train laden with automobiles, said John Bromley, a UP spokesman in Nebraska. The locomotive collided with the parallel train, knocking two cargo cars off their tracks and leaving one hanging over the lip of the bridge.

"It was human error," Mr. Bromley said. "We're determining who did it."

Lonica Baber hugged her husband, Paul, on Tuesday after hers was among several vehicles banged up in a mess of falling debris and sudden braking after the derailment on the bridge above State Highway 360 in Arlington. A car driven by Stephanie Fein (left) was also damaged.
(RON BASELICE / DMN)

Emergency crews shut down northbound and southbound traffic on State Highway 360 at Division Street after the derailment. Fist-sized pieces of gravel and hunks of the overpass railing rained on vehicles passing underneath the bridge.

"You could see the train going over, and all the debris was falling down," said Lonica Baber of Fort Worth, who was driving on Highway 360 when the trains began to pile up. "People just started braking right and left. There were big poles and what looked like cinder blocks falling down. I got rear-ended. I looked up and saw the edge of the train coming over the far side of the bridge. I couldn't make out exactly what all was happening. It was very scary."

A few vehicles were hit by debris, and a few others crashed trying to avoid cars braking in front of them, said Arlington Fire Department spokesman Lt. Randy Ingram. No one was seriously injured, he said.

"We had lot of cars banged up," he said. "It could have been a lot worse."

The portion of the highway just south of Division Street was closed until late Tuesday, officials said. As crews worked for hours with huge railroad cranes to right the locomotive and two cargo cars, southbound traffic was diverted to Division Street, and northbound traffic was sent to Abram Street.

By late afternoon, crews had righted the last railcar on its side, Lt. Ingram said, and traffic lanes were reopened by 5:30 p.m.

Michael Peters, a Texas Department of Transportation spokesman in Fort Worth, said the department activated signs along highways to alert drivers to the trouble in east Arlington.

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"When a highway the size of 360 is closed in both directions, it's serious," Mr. Peters said. "We tried to alert the public that all lanes were closed so they could take alternate routes such as Loop 12 or Farm Road 157."

At its worst, northbound traffic was backed up about 3 ½ miles to Mayfield Road, and southbound traffic about 2 ½ miles to Brown Boulevard, he said.

E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/121802dnmetderail_.7600e.html

[MeekOneGOP]

A freight car perched precariously over Highway 360.
(WFAA-TV)

[John Jamieson]

These going to be a big sale on slightly dented Cadillac SUVs!!!!

[GRRRRR]

Oooops, did I do that???

GRRRRRoopsy!

[Movemout]

"A Union Pacific locomotive veered into two railcars..."

Interesting parlor trick when you are traveling on two rails.

[niteowl77]

Don't you just hate it when locomotives veer? A buddy on the UP told me that some newsbabe had gone up into a unit's cab to film the inside for a local newscast, and she asked where the steering wheel was.