Nostalgia & History > Monument out in lonely W. Texas on the SP. . .

On a trip to West Texas in 1996 after bring transferred down to the Lone Star State, Frisco Joe and I followed the Southern Pacific between Del Rio and Sanderson. Way out in the middle of nowhere, east of Marathon, is the siding of Haymond, an unremarked place on an unremarked piece of railroad. That is, it was until sometime July 25, 1994, when the location gained infamy as being the scene of a deadly head-on collision between two SP trains. An eastbound freight ran the switch at East Haymond, running into the westbound just about to head into the siding. Crew fatigue played a factor; the eastbound was facing the rising sun, and the crew's rest had been irregular and the train delayed leaving El Paso.

This was not too long after Sanderson was bypassed as a crew change for the long Del Rio-El Paso district.

In March the 1996, a westbound SP train passes a monument honoring the four railroaders killed. One couldn't help but get a chill realizing what happened here, miles from the nearest paved road, in the middle of the West Texas desert. And one also couldn't help but notice the monument was dedicated "to our friends."

Does anyone have more information on this accident?

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http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/publicsite/Query/incabbr_output.aspx?key=npo20zvfmhgdqui4stnlafbmvsxsjf243597&sFormData=_PROGRAM%3d%2fBI+Manager%2fFRASTP%2fPublicSite%2f3.07+incabbr.sas%26_service%3dsafety%26_debug%3d0%26%26rr1%3dUP%26rr%3dUP%26region%3d%26st%3d48%26cnty%3d%26atype%3d02%26track%3d1%26trkclas%3d%26pcause%3dH%26cassub%3dAll+Accidents%26hazmat%3d1%26passtrn%3d2%26major%3d01%26psrt%3d3%26eyear%3d1994%26smonth%3d06%26emonth%3d09&ctrlValue=-PA-3.07incabbr.aspxUP_48_021_HAll%20Accidents1201319940609UP_48_021_HAll%20Accidents1201319940609

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

Thanks, Bob.

That was the king of all URL's, and I appreciate you posting it.

Very somber picture, jackpot. I'm glad someone or some group took the initiative to build it.

RIP.

The crew districts on the Sunset Route during SP day's west of San Antonio were as follows:
San Antonio-Del Rio
Del Rio-Sanderson
Sanderson-Valentine
Valentine-El Paso

Now under UP it's San Antonio-Del Rio-Alpine-El Paso.

SP7615