Union Pacific unsure of timetable to reopen

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 10:02 a.m.

Floodwaters from massive winter storms this week did so much damage to the train tracks running through Southern Nevada where a freight train derailed that the Union Pacific has no idea when crews will complete repairs.

"We have no estimate when we can reopen," Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said late Thursday of the line about 70 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Track inspectors discovered Wednesday that flooding and mudslides had sliced the line between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, which goes through Las Vegas, at several locations.

Union Pacific estimates that it may take up to two weeks or more to restore rail service. Operations will be slow for some time after until all the tracks are repaired, Bromley said.

The heaviest damage is in the narrow Caliente Canyon, where all access roads were washed out, Bromley said. This line averages 25 trains per day and is one of the two primary east-west routes between Los Angeles and the Midwest.

"The only way we can get in is by helicopter," Bromley said of the canyon where floodwaters rushed into the Muddy River leading to Overton, where some 200 people were evacuated Tuesday and Wednesday.

The train derailed 21 cars after heavy rains and snow melted in Lincoln County, rushing down the Muddy River toward Moapa Valley. Last week railroad crews parked the train on a siding because a bridge washed out near Caliente, 30 miles farther north.

The 54-car train pulled six tanker cars labeled to indicate they contained hazardous chemicals, including chlorine, sulfur dioxide and propane. Those cars remained on the tracks.

One tanker car partially hanging into the muck after the tracks buckled appeared to have a solid flammable substance in it.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection sent a hazardous-materials crew to examine the train late Wednesday. They discovered that the tanker car contained asphalt instead of a dangerous material, division spokeswoman Cindy Petterson said.

The haz-mat crew also checked two tankers labeled as containing propane for leaks and found none, Petterson said, as air samples grabbed from near the train tankers did not indicate harmful gases.

"There's no problem," Petterson said.

Rail capacity from Los Angeles to points east has been reduced by about one third, Bromley said.

The company's critical Sunset route between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas, is open and operating. Two of five main routes in and out of Los Angeles remain closed.

The coastal route that runs north from Los Angeles to Oakland is cut in several places with debris from mudslides and ocean tides fueled by the storms have eroded track support at other points. Union Pacific does not have an estimate for this line reopening. The rail line runs above the tragic mudslide at La Conchita.