On Monday, November 17, 1980 a disastrous rear end collision occurred five miles west of Kelso, caused by a runaway train descending the hill. Three crewmen were killed and a fourth critically injured.  Early in the afternoon Extra 3119 West, a U.P. work train carrying 20 cars of ties  from Las Vegas to Yermo was stopped in the siding at the top of the hill at Cima.  The 3119 did not have working dynamics and the crew was setting retainers, as required by the rules, for the trip down the grade.  The speed limit down the grade for this train was 15mph.

Another westbound, Extra 8044, a hotshot 'VAN' train consisting of 43 piggyback cars loaded with trailers and 6 auto racks on the rear, passed by at 1:46pm and began the descent towards Kelso.

Shortly after the VAN train passed, at 1:59pm, 3119 began its descent on an “Approach” signal aspect.  The train accelerated to 14mph in 0.3 mile and by the time the rear of the train was out of the passing siding the speed had increased to 17mph.  The Engineer made an initial brake application to control the speed of his train to the 15mph limit. The train slowed momentarily, then began accelerating again.  At 2:09pm Extra 3119 West was three miles down the grade, at mp250.6. The Engineer had made two additional brake applications. After making the last brake application, the Engineer radioed the Dispatcher that he was having trouble.  The Engineer of the VAN train later recalled him stating, “I keep setting air and it won’t slow down.”  The VAN train, was 3.9 miles ahead of Extra 3119, in full dynamics at a stabilized speed of 25mph.

The Engineer of Extra 3119 West was never again able to reduce the speed of his train. At 2:13pm it was accelerating at the rate of 1.6mph per minute, traveling 19.5mph. The Conductor pulled the emergency valve in the caboose but it did little good (the emergency application never propagated to the front of the train since the engineer's brake valve remained in service position).  By 2:15pm Extra 3119 was traveling at 25mph and still accelerating at 5mph per minute and was five miles behind the VAN train.

 The Engineer on the VAN train ahead, Extra 8044, realizing what was happening, radioed the Dispatcher asking for permission to exceed the 25 mph limit for his train. He quickly released his brakes and opened the throttle, hoping to outrun the 3119 careening down the hill. The VAN train sped by Kelso at 75mph with the 3119 about a mile behind, going 62mph and gaining fast.  At 2:24pm the 3119 was by mp241 moving at 80mph, the limit of the engine’s speed indicator.

Eleven miles later, the 3119, now going about 118mph caught up with the VAN train, going about 85mph, at MP230, west of Kelso. The time was 2:29pm. The 3119 hit the rear of the VAN train four separate times. The first collision partially crushed  the VAN's caboose, causing it to derail, overturn and slide down the embankment. The Conductor was killed instantly and the brakeman was critically injured.

The 3119 then struck, one at a time, three of the rear autorack cars, each time derailing and overturning one. The last hit caused the autorack car to climb up over the 3119, destroying the carbody and cab of the engine.  The 31 year old Engineer and the 21 year old head-end Brakeman were killed instantly.

The railroad was shut down for over 24 hours, until a shoo-fly track could be constructed around the scene.  Amtrak's Desert Wind terminated at Barstow and Las Vegas respectively. Passengers were bused between those two stations.

The resulting NTSB investigation and report was highly critical of U.P. and it's rules for brake inspections, estimating gross tonnage and lack of maintenance of the brakes on the tie cars.  Findings included, among other things, that the terminal air test performed in Las Vegas was inadequate and improper. The actual trailing tonnage of the train was over 500 tons more than what the crew was told.  Most of the twenty old tie cars that made up the train had “ineffective brakes” or only “partially effective” brakes.  A similar "test" train was assembled and successfully run down the grade without dynamics, but only after spending almost two days repairing the brakes on the ties cars!