UNION PACIFIC TRAIN ACCIDENTS

Office of Railroad Safety

CHI 97 FR 014
Collision/Fire/Employee Fatality
Union Pacific Railroad
Fort Worth, Texas
August 20, 1997

Aerial view of Accident

Synopsis

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) 4-unit locomotive consist ETIFW-20 traveling eastbound in an unoccupied, run-away condition, and at an estimated speed of 60 mph, collided with the lead locomotive unit of a departing westbound UPRR train MFWEP-20. The collision occurred at the west end of Centennial Yard, milepost (MP) 251.8 of the UP Baird Subdivision, within the city limits of Fort Worth, Texas. The accident occurred at 11:51 p.m., central daylight time, on August 20, 1997.

The 4 locomotives of the ETIFW-20 had been left at Iona siding, which is located about 8 miles west of the accident location. The crew consisted of an engineer and a conductor. The engineer had set a single hand brake on the lead unit and shut down the third leaving only the locomotive running due to the others having run out of fuel. The crew departed the siding via crew van, and returned to Centennial Yard to report off duty.

The MFWEP-20, consisted of 5 locomotive units, 69 loaded and 45 empty freight cars. The train was manned by an engineer, an engineer pilot, and a conductor. An electrician was aboard the 4^th unit for maintenance purposes. The train had just received permission to pass a signal displaying a "Stop Indication" and was proceeding west at an estimated speed of less than 10 mph, when it was collided into the unmanned locomotive that had been left at the east end of Iona siding.

The engineer and engineer pilot were fatally injured in the collision and a fire ensued. The conductor was seriously injured. The electrician escaped without injury.

Injuries to Persons

INJURY TABLE

Injury Type	Train Crew on ETIFW-20	Train Crew on MFWEP-20	Others	TOTAL
FATAL	0	2	0	2
SERIOUS	0	1	0	1
MINOR	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	0	0	0	3

Damage

The damage was estimated by the UPRR to be $3,350,000.

Issues

The major safety issues in this accident are:

• The securement of equipment left standing;

• Train dispatcher response to alarms and unusual conditions;

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