GALT —
Twisted metal grows up out of the ground in Galt — right alongside a cornfield.
But it’s Union Pacific crews, and not farmers, rushing to tend a crop of approximately 14 rail cars planted there by a Wednesday afternoon derailment.
“I got the call from family members asking me if I heard what was going on in Galt and making sure that I wasn’t on that train,” Robert Simpson said.
Normally, he’d be at the controls of the kind of 75-car train that got into trouble.
“I’d be driving this train. I’m a conductor for Union Pacific,” said the 12-year veteran.
That means Simpson knows much more than most about the life of the rails near the Fresno and Sacramento sub lines.
“Toward Thornton is called the Sacramento sub. This is like 99,” he described, pointing down to the Fresno sub line near Kost Road where the crash happened. “That’s equivalent to I-5. This, is a major artery for us.”
It amounts to a huge delay on a critical line.
And since Simpson considers this area to be an easy stretch of track, he can only guess at what went wrong.
“Several things could have played a factor such as it being hot, metal rails,” said Simpson, hinting at the fact that high heat can causes the rails to expand.
Officially, Union Pacific isn’t speculating about a cause.
According to farmers in the area, the train derailed between two bridges where new track and cement were just laid back in October.
It’s an area locals say UP staff have been photographing lately.
“What happened was one of the rail cars hit the trestle and so they had to inspect the trestle to determine if there were any damages to the trestle. That’s part of the whole investigation as well,” said Francisco Castillo, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad.
No estimate on how much of the rice, wine and hardware items headed through Galt to Proviso, Illinois, were damaged or when they might reach their destination.
The derailment damaged 1,600 feet of track, which Castillo says will take 40 track panels and 12 cars of ballast or crushed rock to repair.
Union Pacific plans to have the affected rail line ready for use again by Thursday evening.
Overnight crews and cranes will focus on picking up the toppled cars.
Luckily the accident didn’t cause any injuries or any hazmat issues.
Simpson’s thankful it was in the middle of a field.
“Couldn’t have happened in a better area,” he said.
One northbound Amtrak train and one southbound train were delayed as a result of not being able to use the shared track.
