California train slammed into empty railcars but unclear why

By JOSH FUNK
Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal investigators said the collision that killed two Union Pacific employees earlier this month in Southern California happened when the train slammed into 92 empty railcars that had been stored on a side track for nine months. The National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report that the Sept. 8 derailment caused roughly $1.2 million damage, but investigators haven’t determined what caused the crash in the desert near the Salton Sea. Both men on the locomotive were ejected when their train hit the parked cars around 2:40 a.m. and died at the scene. UP officials declined to comment on the derailment given the ongoing investigation.