Investigators aren’t yet sure what caused eight rail cars to derail Thursday morning, sending one crashing onto Colorado 72 with another tumbling close to a state highway department building and crews.
No one was injured in the 11:30 accident, but the road was closed for nearly six hours to allow transportation officials to look for clues at the site near Coal Creek Canyon.
“Everything is being looked at — the cars, the track, human factors,” said Mark Davis, a spokesman for Union Pacific, which operated the train. “The crew is being interviewed about what they felt, and a separate group (of investigators) is looking at ‘others,’ (meaning) anything out of the ordinary.”
The 94-car freight train was bound for Salt Lake City after pulling out from Denver, Davis said.
The derailed cars were empty, and most were meant to carry grain. No known hazardous materials spilled.
“There was one gasoline tanker and it was empty, thank God,” said Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. “It would have been an entirely different situation” had gas spilled.
One car crashed onto the highway, another was left dangling from a bridge, and another tumbled down an embankment toward a Colorado Department of Transportation facility that houses snowplows.
One worker from that facility, who did not give his name, said he was inside when he and co-workers heard a loud crash. They saw the cars tumble off the track and roll down toward the maintenance facility.
“It didn’t seem real,” he said.
Davis said preliminary examinations found only minor damage to the track and no significant damage to the bridge or highway.
A 200-home subdivision was cut off by the derailment.
Locomotives pulling the train stopped about 200 yards uphill from the derailment. Loaded cars in the train carried rock, sand, railroad ties, fuel and other cargo.
From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, Colorado recorded 26 train accidents, including 20 partial or complete derailments, according to the latest available data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The agency showed no previous accidents or derailments at the Jefferson County site.
Staff writer Joey Bunch contributed to this report.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
