UP cites human error for runaway train cars near Dunsmuir

Written by Ryan Sabalow - Redding Record Searchlight Saturday, 06 June 2009 12:51

REDDING, Calif. — A railroad maintenance worker likely didn't set the brakes on his high-rail truck on Wednesday afternoon, allowing the truck and the six cars it was towing to roll out of control, forcing railroad crews to intentionally derail it north of Dunsmuir, railroad officials said Thursday.

"We're leaning towards human error," said Zoe Richmond, a Union Pacific Railroad spokeswoman.

Richmond said a contractor was stacking used railroad ties onto the six gondola cars when the mishap occurred near Mott, between Dunsmuir and Mount Shasta. She said the maintenance worker was not in the cab and may have neglected to set its brake.

The train rolled downhill between two and three miles before railroad crews were able to force it off its tracks a half-mile before it crossed the Sacramento River at Cantara Loop, the site of the infamous 1991 chemical spill, Richmond said.

The tracks in the area form a horseshoe-shaped loop with an apex over the river west of Interstate 5.

A high-rail truck is a pickup or a semi truck converted to run on railroad tracks like a locomotive.

Richmond said the workers were finishing a large-scale railroad-tie replacement project in the Mount Shasta area.

No one was hurt in the incident, no chemicals spilled into waterways, and the runaway cars were quickly reported and stopped, Richmond said.

Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies were notified of the errant cars about 1:50 p.m. The sheriff's department reported Wednesday that the cars had broken off from the back of a train.

Diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid spilled into the soil from the high-rail semi-truck's tanks, Richmond said.

"About 90 gallons were spilled; that's our estimate," she said.

The rupture occurred about 150 feet from the Sacramento River, Rick Dean, a waste management unit manager with the Siskiyou County Public Health Department, said Wednesday.

An absorbent boom was going to be placed in the river as a precaution before the truck cab could be pulled from the wreckage, Dean said.

Work to clean up the spill continues today, Richmond said.

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