Freight Trains Collide, Hundreds Stranded

The collision of two freight trains in Arlington left hundreds of people stranded Saturday night.

An eastbound freight train struck another train that was stopped on the tracks near the 400 block of West Division Street, Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said. Both trains belong to Union Pacific. Espinoza said it would take several days to clear the wreckage.

Police said no one was injured in the accident, but at least 600 people at a charity event at Howell Farms were stranded on the south side of the tracks until early Sunday morning because of wreckage blocking the facility’s only exit. It took three hours for emergency crews to cut through a fence to provide an alternate access route.

Three locomotives derailed and three to five cargo containers were crushed in the accident, which occurred around 9:15 p.m., Arlington Fire Department Chief Troy Brooks said. Both trains were hauling shipping containers.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation.

The railroad injury lawyers of Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. have handled railroad accident cases and FELA claims nationwide for more than 45 years.