Nostalgia & History > UP Devine, TX head-on in 1997

I came across some photos online showing the aftermath of the horrific
head on that ocurred in 1997 in Devine, Texas. They're here:



Amazingly, there's actually a shot of the UP 5981 leaving San Antonio
on its last, ill fated trip.

Here's one of the shots:

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I searched on "Devine" and came up with really only one thread related to this accident:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,47444,47521#msg-47521
It mentions "dispatcher error"; Can anyone expound upon what happened?
Thanks,
-Wes

DRGW Wrote:
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> Can anyone expound upon what happened?

See: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1998/RAR9802.htm

UP 4211, 5981, 6143, and 9186 were involved in a wreck on 22 June 1997 at Devine, Texas (MP 291.50, 32.4 miles south of San Antonio on the Texas Division's Laredo Subdivision line between San Antonio and Laredo). UP 9186 was lead unit on the southbound ZYCMX-21 (Intermodal, Yard Center, Chicago] to Mexico), with 62 cars. UP 5981 was lead unit on the northbound MLDLI-22 (Manifest, Laredo to Livonia), with 86 cars. The UP dispatcher at Omaha issued incomplete instructions for the proper meet of the opposing trains, resulting in a head-on collision that destroyed both units on the southbound (UP 9186, leading, and UP 6143) and two of the three units on the northbound (UP 5981, leading, and UP 4211). UP 5084 was the third unit on the northbound and was to be repaired. The collision took place on the railroad's bridge over Texas State Highway 132, with the resulting fire damage and collision debris completely blocking the highway. Two crew members were killed and two crew members were injured. Two trespassers, riding in cab of one of the trailing units were also killed. UP 5981, 6143, and 9186 were retired on 14 July 1997; UP 4211 was retired on 21 August 1997. See two photos of wreck site in Diesel Era, Sep/Oct 1997, p. 5. (see also Diesel Era, Sep/Oct 1997, Volume 8, number 5, p. 5; CTC Board, Sep 1997, Issue 227, p. 10; and NTSB report RAR-98/02)

Don Strack
http://utahrails.net

donstrack Wrote:
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<snip>
> The UP
> dispatcher at Omaha issued incomplete instructions
> for the proper meet of the opposing trains,...
<snip>

More specifically, now that I read the report:
The DS told the southbound train he was going to give him an "After-Arrival", and the conductor said he was ready to copy. But when the DS actually issued the track warrant, he omitted *saying* the Box 7 part pertaining to the After-Arrival, despite the fact that it was properly displayed on his computer screen. Then he failed to notice the same omission on readback by the conductor, and the conductor never questioned the fact that the DS had said it was going to be an After-Arrival. This was all verified by the tape recordings of the radio transmissions.
The report is very in-depth and is an interesting read.
Take care,
-Wes