This information is preliminary and subject to change.
Release date 23 July 2025
On June 25, 2025, about 12:33 p.m. local time, a Union Pacific Railroad (UP) conductor on yard job LFG15-25 was seriously injured while riding the lead tank car during a shoving movement on the industry lead track at the Chief Ethanol Fuels (CEF) facility in Lexington, Nebraska. [1] The conductor was struck when the lead tank car sideswiped a stationary trackmobile fouling the industry lead track. [2] Emergency medical responders airlifted the conductor to a hospital in Kearney, Nebraska. At the time of the accident, visibility conditions were cloudy with light precipitation; the temperature was 72°F.
On the day of the accident, two CEF employees were switching tank cars on the industry tracks of the CEF facility with the trackmobile. [3] One of the employees was lining switches and the other was controlling the trackmobile from the ground with a remote control.[4] About 11:41 a.m., the crew finished the switching operation and positioned the trackmobile on industry track 1, which was to the south of industry track 2.
Shortly before the accident, the UP crew of yard job LFG15-25, which consisted of an engineer and a conductor, was shoving 25 empty tank cars with 1 locomotive from UP’s Lexington Yard toward industry track 2 at the CEF facility. About 12:30 p.m., the tank cars were on the industry lead track of the CEF facility, and the conductor was protecting the shoving movement from the south side of the lead tank car (the right side in the direction of travel). [5] Immediately before the accident, the crew was shoving the tank cars onto industry track 2 when the lead tank car sideswiped the trackmobile positioned on industry track 1. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators on scene noted that the trackmobile was positioned beyond the clearance point on industry track 1.[6]
While on scene, NTSB investigators conducted:
- sight distance observations,
- examined the track and railroad equipment involved in the accident,
- reviewed data from the locomotive event recorder and surveillance cameras at the CEF facility,
- conducted a reenactment of the accident to understand the location of the conductor and movement of the accident tank car,
- requested documentation from UP and CEF, and
- conducted interviews.
The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on UP’s and CEF’s employee training, operating procedures, and safety oversight.
Parties to the investigation include:
- the Federal Railroad Administration;
- UP;
- CEF;
- the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers; and
- the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
[1] (a) All times in this report are local. (b) A
tank car is a type of railcar used to transport liquid or
gaseous commodities. (c) A
shoving movement is the process of pushing railcars from the rear with a
locomotive. (d) The
industry lead track runs west and then north from the CEF facility to UP’s Lexington
Yard in Kearney Subdivision.
[2] (a) A trackmobile is an on-track vehicle used to move railcars. (b) Fouling is placing an individual
or equipment on the track or in such proximity to the track that the individual or equipment could be
struck by a moving train or on-track equipment.
[3] Switching is moving railcars from one track to another track or to different positions on the same
track.
[4] Lining switches is aligning the movable rails or switch points with one track when a track diverges
into two or more tracks to guide a train onto the desired track.
[5] P
rotecting a shoving movement is visually determining that the route is clear of obstructions and conflicting movements.
[6] A clearance point is a location near the switch of a diverging track beyond which it is unsafe for railcars or railroad equipment to proceed because train movement on the adjacent track could collide with the railcar or railroad equipment. Railcars and railroad equipment on industry track 1 at the CEF facility were required to be positioned east of the clearance point.
