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Winds Topple Train

By Brian Hagen

06/04/2014

(KNZA)--Strong winds, accompanying Tuesday night's dangerous storms, caused a train derailment about two miles east of the Brown County community of Willis, toppling 52 rail cars just after midnight as the train sat still while the storm raged.

Union Pacific Spokesman Mark Davis says the train's emergency technology kicked in, alerting the crew to the danger. “We had a train stopped,” Davis tells MSC News. “Anytime there is a tornado warning in an area, we stop all trains that are in the area. It was going from Arkansas to Wyoming [with] a total of 134 empty coal cars. All of a sudden, about 12:05, the crew's emergency brakes were applied, even without them moving, which would indicate to them that there had been a derailment.”

Davis says no one was injured, and the track escaped damage because the strong winds just laid the rail cars over on their side. “Wind has that kind of impact on rail cars,” Davis says. “I'm not sure the what the National Weather Service will tell us [regarding] how fast they were going, but that's another reason we stop these trains. We have wind tests on all our rail cars to determine the maximum amount of wind they can handle without possibly coming off the track. If wind gusts in an area are exceeding what their blow-over speed is, we will stop a train until that wind dies down.”

Heavy equipment was used to move the rail cars away from the track, with the line reopened to railroad traffic at 12 noon Wednesday.

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