A train from Kansas City was headed for Barstow, Calif. The 89-car train was being pulled by four locomotives, and about 27 of the cars were empty.
It was a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. freight train. At least two tankers on the train were carrying hazardous substances. Others carried glass, machinery, heavy equipment, military vehicles, frozen meat, lumber, feed grain, iron and corn syrup.
Sixteen cars of the train derailed early Wednesday morning. The derailment occurred at about 12:15 a.m. It blocked the Santa Fe's two main
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lines in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Railroad traffic in and out of Southern California was stopped.
The tracks are also used by Amtrak and Union Pacific railroad.
The train had a crew of two. Neither crew member was hurt.
Neither of the cars carrying hazardous substances was leaking.
Authorities on the scene said they suspected a broken rail was to blame. Mike Martin, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said the rail break was not considered suspicious.
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education