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Archive 2002

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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Top Stories

Friday, February 8, 2002

Derailment near Toyah shuts tracks

By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer

PECOS, Fri., Feb. 8, 2002 -- A 91-car Union Pacific train hopped the tracks just west of  Toyah this morning at 3:17 a.m., Union Pacific spokesman John  Bromley said. 

"No one was injured but 38 cars were derailed as the east-bound train was moving onto a sidetrack," he said.

Bromley said that the incident was under investigation and that the exact cause of the derailment had not been determined.

Whatever the cause, the result was s car near the middle of the train with its front wheels on one set of tracks and its rear wheels on the other set of tracks.

Although close to Toyah, the stranded train did not block the road into town.

"The train originated in Long Beach, California and was bound for Fort Worth. All of the cars were container cars, double stacked with shipping containers of mixed freight," Bromley said.

No hazardous materials were being transported by the train, he said.

Bromley said that for now the Union Pacific line involved was closed but that the main track should be clear and operating by midnight tonight.

"We expect to have the sidetrack repaired by tomorrow afternoon," he said.

For now some Union Pacific trains will be making a northern detour on their way to the California.

"We have several west-bound trains that are detouring onto the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe line," he said. "Those trains will pick up the Burlington line in Sweetwater and pass through Lubbock and Santa Fe on their way to the West Coast," he said.

Bromley said that Union Pacific maintains reciprocal agreements with other railroad companies for situations when tracks have to be closed.

Work crews will be coming from as far away as Amarillo to re-rail the stranded cars, he said.

Bromley said that there were companies that specialized in cleaning up derailments and that Union Pacific contracted with several of these companies.

"It won't take long," he said.

Once the cars are back on the track they can be moved and Union Pacific track crews can get about the business of repairing the tracks, he said.

Lighter blamed for Thursday's apartment fire

By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer

PECOS, Fri., Feb. 8, 2002 -- A fire swept through a small apartment on the corner  of Washington Street and Ross Blvd. Thursday afternoon, destroying  the inside of the building but causing no injuries.

Pecos Volunteer Fire personnel and the Pecos Emergency Medical Service personnel were called to the home in the 600 block of Ross Boulevard at approximately 12:56 p.m.

Fire Marshal Jack Brookshire said that the fire destroyed the inside of the apartment. However no one was injured when the fire broke out.

"The inside of the structure was totally gutted," he said. "The structure itself was okay, the sheetrock protected it."

The firemen battled the fire for about an hour before they were able to extinguish it.

Brookshire said that the fire was started in the closet by one of the children living in the home.

"It started in the closet in the southeast corner of the apartment," he said. "One of their kids was playing in the closet with a cigarette lighter."

The owner of the home was not identified at press time.

Obituaries

Jose Bustillos, Janis Morehead and Ynes Nieves



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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.

324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net

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Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise