Union Pacific Train Wreck Cleanup Could Last Hours
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Division Street between Dottie Lynn Parkway and West Fork Road remains closed Sunday while Union Pacific employees work to clear a nearby railway of three locomotives and five rail cars that derailed when an eastbound train slammed into one that was stopped on the tracks Saturday night.
There were no injuries during the derailment, and Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said the trains were carrying shipping boxes and containers. One had a small load of carpentry equipment, but there was so significant cargo spillage, she said.
In all, Espinoza said heavy machinery is on scene to move the three locomotives and five rail cars and make way for crews to fix the damaged portions of the rail itself.
About 600 were stranded at a Boys and Girls Club charity event Saturday night because the wreckage blocked the only exit from the venue, Howell Family Farms. They were eventually routed through a nearby pasture to a park road and then back onto the streets just east of the incident.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that this is the sixth Union Pacific derailment in the area since 1998. The most serious of which injured 22 passengers when an Amtrak passenger train carrying 198 people derailed.
Arlington Police spokeswoman Tiara Richard hoped cleanup would be finished by 6 p.m., although Espinoza warned it could take longer. Authorities are hoping to have the wreckage cleared and Division reopened before Monday morning traffic begins.
