Train wreck’s cause a mystery
Published June 10, 2008
LIVERPOOL - Railroad investigators still were looking Monday for the cause of a train wreck that ended with 18 rail cars on their side, two damaged rail lines and a major roadway into Liverpool closed indefinitely.
A spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which owned the cars, said workers for the rail were able to open up the railway to traffic late Saturday afternoon.
The 18 cars derailed on a side track near the intersection of CR 192 in Liverpool at about noon Friday. About a dozen residents who lived adjacent to the tracks were evacuated as a precaution but were later allowed back into their homes.
Several cars broke open and leaked paraffin wax, plastic pellets and wheat.
It was on its way to Corpus Christi from Temple, and the only toxic substance on the mixed freight train was the diesel in the engine, which did not derail, Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Joe Faust said.
Police for the railway had not determined any preliminary causes for the wreck, he said.
“The cause is still under investigation,” Faust said. “We don’t even want to speculate.”
A spokesman Union Pacific, which owns the damaged railway, declined to comment about the wreck, saying jurisdiction in train accidents falls on the owner of the cars.
“They’re handling everything,” said Gene Hinkle, spokesman for Union Pacific.
Vehicular traffic to Liverpool still cannot enter or exit CR 192 as the intersection at the tracks near Main Street still is closed, awaiting repair, Liverpool Police Chief Miles Hopkins said.
Workers
