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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
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
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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