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Missouri Train Collision of 3 Union Pacific Freight Trains 

Missouri: Eastbound train 2CNAAE-10 consisted of two locomotives on the head end, 135 loaded coal cars, and an additional locomotive, operated as a distributed power unit (DPU), on the rear. The rearward-facing headlight on a DPU is required to be displayed on "dim". Witnesses indicated that they observed that the headlight on the rear of the DPU was illuminated. The engineer stopped the train at a stop signal at Control Point (CP) Dozier. The engineer stated that while stopped waiting for the signal to proceed, a westbound train (CPAWE-13) passed on the adjacent track. The engineer told investigators that an emergency brake application occurred and he thought that it might have been caused by a fault with the DPU. As he tried to reset the DPU he became aware of employees calling for help on the radio.

The engineer and conductor went toward the back of their train and saw derailed equipment and emergency personnel treating injured train crewmembers. They discovered that their train had been struck in the rear by a following eastbound train (CNRBW-10). The westbound train (CPAWE-13) that had passed them on the adjacent track had collided with cars that had been derailed because of the first collision.

Eastbound train CNRBW-10 had been following train 2CNAAE-10 on the same track. CNRBW-10 had two locomotives on the head end, 133 loaded coal cars, and a locomotive DPU at the rear. Upon impact, and as the train cars began to derail and separate, CNRBW-10 went into emergency braking. The lead locomotive unit rolled to the right onto its side with the trailing locomotive and the following 54 cars derailing. The struck DPU of train 2CNAAE-10 and rear six cars derailed to the north, blocking the adjacent track. The engineer and conductor of CNBRW-10 sustained serious injuries.

The second collision occurred as westbound train CPAWE-13 was passing the stopped 2CNAAE-10. Train CPAWE-13 had three locomotives and 104 empty freight cars. The engineer of CPAWE-13 told investigators that he had a clear signal before passing the head-end of the stopped train while traveling about 24 mph. Shortly thereafter, while still passing the stopped train, he saw that the track ahead was obstructed by derailed equipment, made an emergency brake application, and dove to the floor. The locomotive event recorder showed that CPAWE-13 struck the derailed equipment at 17 mph. The collision resulted in the derailment of the three locomotives of CPAWE-13, the two cars immediately behind the locomotives, and three additional cars farther back in the train. In addition, 9 of 25 cars stored on an adjacent siding were derailed. The engineer and conductor of CPAWE-13 received minor injuries.

Diesel fuel was spilled from ruptured locomotive fuel tanks and fueled a small fire. Responding emergency personnel arrived within minutes of the accident, with additional personnel arriving about 10 minutes later. Emergency response personnel extinguished the fire and removed the injured crewmembers from the wreckage. The injured were transported to a St. Louis hospital.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the rear-end collision of eastbound train CNRBW-10 with eastbound train 2CNAAE-10 and the resulting collision of westbound train CPAWE-13 was the conductor and engineer of train CNRBW-10 being in a fatigue-induced unresponsive state as their train passed several wayside signals and approached the rear of train 2CNAAE-10.