Passenger Trains > UP wreck narrowly misses Marshall TX station

A Union Pacific freight train traveling east/northbound at Marshall, TX derailed at about 120pm on Monday, May 3. Fourteen cars derailed, most of them overturning.

The derailment occurred at a curve in Marshall; on the outside of that curve is the historic Marshall depot, splendidly restored in the late 1990s and serving as the city's Amtrak station and railroad museum. Careening, derailed cars barely missed the building, one by only ten feet.

The only person inside, station agent George Cantley, was unhurt but scared after he heard something wrong as the train passed by, and went outside to look.

"I saw cars moving toward the building, derailed, moving this way, and then I ran," he said. Cantley was the only eyewitness to the wreck.

Amtrak's westbound Texas Eagle was well past Marshall when the derailment occurred and was unaffected. The eastbound Eagle was detoured between Big Sandy and Texarkana on the former Cotton Belt Route, missing its stops at Longview and Marshall.

Although the Marshall station building escaped damage, things won't be normal for a while. The derailed cars destroyed and buried the elecrical transformer supplying the building. A utility company representative said the station will be without commercial power for about a month.

Story from the Marshall Newsmessenger:

http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/article_9aa519c6-577f-11df-8c9c-001cc4c03286.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/10 09:56 by GenePoon.

......glad I was off Monday...

Whew!!

Axy

the historic Marshall Depot, from the westbound Texas Eagle on June 15, 2008

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Thanks for the photos, Bob. Gotta love that T&P logo!

Located on the outside of that curve the way it is, the station building was an obvious "target!"



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/10 16:31 by GenePoon.

Having never been there, this is the first time I've seen this beautiful station, thanks for posting the story and pictures.

I was looking at the station on Google Earth and noticed there is a steam locomotive on display there as well. Looking at the aerial shot, I was wondering...how do passengers get to the station? There appears to be a parking lot on the other side of one of the tracks, but I couldn't see a walkway to the station.

Thanks.

I wonder why the power company would take a month to get power back to the station. It seems to me that as a operating business, Amtrak would have an agreement with various "suppliers" with a "continuity of service" agreement. I would think they would require the power company to put in some sort of temporary power source.

RFandPFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having never been there, this is the first time
> I've seen this beautiful station, thanks for
> posting the story and pictures.
>
> I was looking at the station on Google Earth and
> noticed there is a steam locomotive on display
> there as well. Looking at the aerial shot, I was
> wondering...how do passengers get to the station?
> There appears to be a parking lot on the other
> side of one of the tracks, but I couldn't see a
> walkway to the station.
>
> Thanks.

That parking lot south of the wye, off Washington St., is the station parking. Passengers access the station itself via a tunnel under the tracks; the tunnel entrance is inside the small building adjacent to the handicapped parking spaces. It's been that way since 1940; the metal treads on the steps down to the tunnel have the T&P logo on them.

EDIT: I found some pictures on the Web:

http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/marshall.htm

http://www.trainweather.com/844marshall-lit052406.html



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/10 07:01 by GenePoon.

Think the Station is owned by City of Marshall as landlord.

I bet their is NO Amtrak operated station that has a 2nd power source, except for a few big city ones.

Amtrak is barely able to operate trains, so power is way down the list.

State of North Carolina is placing stand-by generators as they remodel stations and they are tested each week. The way to go!

I concur with the others, that is one good looking depot ...

Regards,
Burlington John

mundo Wrote:
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> Think the Station is owned by City of Marshall as
> landlord.


It is owned by Union Pacific. The nonprofit Marshall Depot Inc. has a longterm lease on it and manages the building.
Amtrak is only a tenant in a part of the main floor.

RFandPFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having never been there, this is the first time
> I've seen this beautiful station, thanks for
> posting the story and pictures.
>
> I was looking at the station on Google Earth and
> noticed there is a steam locomotive on display
> there as well...
>
> Thanks.

Texas & Pacific 400, Baldwin 1915

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"We're not going to be able to do much," Hoffmeister said. "Amtrak will be detoured for weeks probably."

Do they assume it takes that long to clean up a derailment?