DERAILMENT OF UNION PACIFIC TRAIN 6205 WEST
NEAR KELSO, CA.
JANUARY 12, 1997
| U.P. train 6205 West departed Las
Vegas, mp334, at 6:05am on January 12, 1997 with three locomotive units
(UP6205, SP9360, UP6162) and 75 covered hopper cars loaded with
corn. Train consist showed 9,274 tons and train length of 4,661 feet. The trip from Las Vegas to the top of the hill at Cima was routine. A running test of the dynamic brakes was performed, as required by the rules, on the downgrade between Erie, mp309, and Borax, mp292 (mileposts numbers descend going westward). 6205 West was stopped at Cima for 45 minutes as the conductor walked the train, setting up retainers, also required by the rules. Timetable instructions limited maximum speed down the grade to 20mph for this particular train. The train departed Cima at about 11:18am. A couple of minutes later the engineer starting applying dynamic brakes. Within a couple of more minutes the dynamic braking was generating 705 amps and the speed was 13mph. The engineer made a minimum brake pipe reduction to aid the dynamics in controlling the speed. Train speed and dynamic brake amperage slowly rose over the next nineteen minutes, as expected, until they reached 843 amps and 22mph. At 11:42am the dynamic brake amperage and effort fell to 0 amps within 13 seconds. It later became evident that the engineer had unwittingly depressed the MU engine shutdown button, which stopped the fuel pumps on all the locomotive units in the consist. As the accident unfolded both crewmembers did not know the reason for the shutdown and believed it was only the lead locomotive that had quit running. The engineer quickly made a further brake pipe reduction to compensate for the loss of dynamic braking. The train speed slowly increased to 29mph. Within the next minute a full service brake application was made. As the train speed reached 31mph the engineer made an emergency application of the brakes and noted that the EOT rear end cab display showed zero pressure, indicating that the emergency application had reached the end of the train. Too late! The train had become a runaway. For the next nine and one-half minutes the train speed continued to increase, despite the emergency brake application. The train entered into the siding at Hayden, mp240, at 72mph. At about 11:52am, as the train began to exit the siding at the west end, mp238, the drawbar between the rear locomotive and the train broke and the cars started to derail. The three unit locomotive consist remained on the rails and finally stopped three miles away. Sixty eight of the seventy five cars derailed. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Total damages came to $4,079,152. The lead unit, UP6205 was a SD60M, of which the UP eventually purchased a total of 231 units. The SD60M was the first EMD production console cab built in the U.S. The engineer's controls were mounted in a desk type arrangement. In the earlier models the MU shutdown switch was mounted on the lower left part of the desk console, where it could be inadvertently bumped by the engineers knee or foot. In 1989, within the first year of service of the SD60M models, the UP had become aware of the problem with inadvertent activation of the MU engine stop safety switch. Despite EMD's attempts to address the problem (with all the railroads that had purchased SD60M's), it wasn't until eight years later, August 1997, after a FRA mandate, that UP completed the modification of the MU shutdown switches. The Safety Board found that the actions of the engineer in trying to control the train, given the circumstances, were "reasonable." Among the other findings of the NTSB investigation was that "the failure of Union Pacific Railroad management to recognize the multiple-unit engine switch location as a safety hazard and to expedite effective switch protection or relocation created the conditions that led to the accident." (emphasis added) |