
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990                   TAG: 9006100232
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LAMONA, WASH.                                LENGTH: Short

TRAIN WRECK CLOSES AMTRAK ROUTE 12 HOURS

A head-on collision between a freight train and a large rail-maintenance unit caused a spectacular fire, more than $500,000 in damage and the 12-hour shutdown of an Amtrak passenger route, officials said.

No one was killed. Firefighters battled flames that sent up a column of smoke visible five miles. Four workers suffered minor injuries in the crash, hospital officials said.

Braking problems on a rail grinder, a heavy unit about two locomotives long that was being operated by a contractor, apparently led to the accident Friday evening, Howard Kallio of Burlington Northern Railroad said Saturday.

All three locomotives and some of the approximately 35 cars on the freight train were destroyed, Kallio said. - Associated Press

by CNB