GALVA, Kan. — UPDATE (AP) — 10:30 A.M. 9/26/1014
Federal regulators say a Union Pacific line has reopened a day after two trains collided in central Kansas.
The line was reopened at early Friday after the railroad replaced 400 feet of track on the main line and 300 feet on a side line. The accident occurred in McPherson County between Galva and Canton.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Eric Weiss says the agency has recovered the evidence and video recorders from the locomotives and downloaded information from train signals.
Investigators will be onsite for three to five days recovering perishable evidence and interviewing the crew.
Hutchpost.com reports (http://bit.ly/1ry3RmY ) investigators are also looking into whether the accident could have been prevented by technology called positive train control that has the ability to stop a train before a collision.
UPDATE — 9:20 P.M. 9/25/1014
The National Transportation Safety Board held a news conference about today’s train derailment In McPherson County.
Eric Weiss says a team from the NTSB arrived in McPherson late this afternoon, and were able to get both of the black boxes from the locomotive. One keeps track of speed, location, etc. and the other contains actual video of the crash.
He says they also downloaded information from a nearby railroad signal, which will be sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis.
Investigators are working with Union Pacific and the Federal Railroad Administration, but are waiting for the rest of the team to show up. They’re interviewing engineers and other crew to look at work history and make sure they were properly rested.
He expects to be here for another 3 to 5 days, and for the investigation to be completed in about 9 to 12 months.
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UPDATE — 4:00 P.M. 9/25/2014
A road is temporarily closed and crews are cleaning up a large train derailment in McPherson County.
Around 6 a.m., two trains collided with one another. Initially, it was a reported head-on collission, but that is not the case. Two Union Pacific trains were heading toward each other. One train moved to a side track to let ther other pass. The trains managed to collide.
“I was sleeping and it woke me and I thought we were having a 90-mile-an-hour wind,” said Velma Unruh.
“Our house. It started shaking, kind of. Not terrible, but just a little vibrating,” echoed her daughter Melanie.
The Unruh’s were surprised to see this derailment — the second for the area this year. In May, strong winds pushed a train and several carts off the tracks.
Yet, Thursday morning was the closest they’ve been to an incident like this.
“”Well, it looked like toys strewed around with the box cars sitting upright close together. I didn’t really want to believe that something bad had happened,” Velma said.
Union Pacific and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting investigations on this case.
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Emergency crews are on the scene as two trains collided and derailed in McPherson County.
It happened around 6 a.m. Thursday in the 2400 block of 24th Avenue. That’s east of the town of McPherson, between Galva and Canton.
Both are Union Pacific trains, according to a company spokesman. He said one was heading from Chicago to Los Angeles, and the other was heading from Los Angeles to Chicago.
The train heading to LA was in the process of pulling onto a side track to allow the oncoming train to pass, but the Chicago-bound train struck the rear portion of the other train before it had completely moved over.
Several cars derailed, but no injuries have been reported. Fifteen cars and a locomotive derailed on the LA-bound train, while the two locomotives and five rail cars derailed on the other. Both trains consisted of flat cars carrying ocean-going containers. One locomotive is reportedly leaking diesel fuel, but no other hazardous chemicals are involved.
Additional crews and heavy equipment are heading to the site to begin investigation and clean-up.
It’s unclear when the track will reopen. The Union Pacific spokesman said that line averages about 20 trains a day, and they’re working to get those detoured.
KAKE News has a crew on the scene. Check back for updates.