Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Headquarters Assigned Accident Investigation Report HQ-2006-75, Union Pacific, Redlands, California, August 27, 2006

摘要

On August 26, 2006, at 9:30 p.m. PDT, the crew of Union Pacific (UP) train ETUWCB-26, a nine locomotive consist, of which seven were dead in consist (DIC), was traveling westbound between Beaumont and Redlands, California, on UPs Yuma Subdivision. The engineer experienced difficulty in controlling the speed of the train on a descending grade of 1.97% near milepost 559.0 and placed the train in full dynamic braking in an attempt to control the movement. When that failed, and as the train gathered speed to 39 mph near milepost 559.11, the engineer induced an emergency brake application using the automatic brake valve. However, he neglected to manually apply the independent brake. The train, now a run-away, traveled approximately 9.5 miles and reached a recorded speed of 80 mph before derailing the seven rear locomotives in a right-hand and left-hand curve on main track 1 between mileposts 549.6 and 549.3. The two unattended lead locomotives, UP 2756 and UP 8594, continued westward another 1.8 miles before coming to a stop without incident at milepost 547.8. Both crew members sustained injuries and were taken to area hospitals where they were treated and released. They have since not returned to duty. FRA Post Accident Testing was conducted and results were negative. The weather was clear, visibility was dark, and the temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Damage to equipment was reported at $4,534,857 and $205,640 for track and signal. The probable cause of the accident was Use of Brakes, Other, H099. The engineer was in full dynamic braking and placed the train into emergency at 39 mph but failed to manually apply the independent brake to stop.