Train derails in Shiner
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Photo by Bobby Horecka.
Photo by Bobby Horecka. -
A train derailed in downtown Shiner around 7 p.m. on Friday June 3. Photo by Bobby Horecka
A train derailed in downtown Shiner around 7 p.m. on Friday June 3. Photo by Bobby Horecka -
An aerial photo of downtown Shiner Friday.
An aerial photo of downtown Shiner Friday. -
Another aerial of downtown Shiner Friday.
Another aerial of downtown Shiner Friday. -
Looking down the line from a bird's eye view.
Looking down the line from a bird's eye view. -
As the sun sets Friday, it looks like a long night ahead for Shiner first responders.
As the sun sets Friday, it looks like a long night ahead for Shiner first responders. -
Another bird's eye shot...
Another bird's eye shot... -
A view of First National as the sun sets.
A view of First National as the sun sets. -
From the Seventh Street side
From the Seventh Street side -
From the west side
From the west side -
Also west
Also west -
Thanks to Shiner Police Departent for send along the West Side photos.
Thanks to Shiner Police Departent for send along the West Side photos.
As many as a dozen rail cars overturned in Shiner just before 7 p.m. Friday, shutting down all traffic on U.S 90A and spilling several tons of coal in the downtown area.
Emergency responders from across the area are on the scene now, redirecting traffic and securing the scene, awaiting response crews from Union Pacific.
Witnesses said the open-topped cars apparently came off the tracks and rode several feet across the grass before they overturned, spilling their contents wherever they flipped.
One fireman on scene said the coal was likely destined likely head to the Colletto Creek power plant near Victoria, given the direction the train was headed.
Coal and twisted rail cars were stacked almost two stories high at the railroad crossing downtown. No injuries to anyone were reported.
Witnesses reported early on that two vehicles (regular automobiles traveling on city streets) may have been hit by some of the materials in the wreckage.
Both cars, however, left the area and continued to their destinations.
“The Shiner train derailment has caused Avenue C, Avenue D, Avenue E (U.S. Highway 90 ALT), Avenue G, and FM 3435 railroad crossings to be CLOSED,” Lavaca County Emergency Management Coordinator Egon Barthels posted to CodeRed emergency alert.
The eastside detour (coming from Hallettsville) is State Highway 95 to FM 966, to CR 340, to FM 533. The westside detour (coming from Gonzales) is Avenue B to CR 351, to CR 352 to SH 95.
Those who don’t need to travel to Shiner right now are asked to avoid it until the roadway reopens. Watch our website for updates as they become available.
Officials suspect the road will likely be shut down throughout the overnight hours as crews from Union Pacific work to clear the wreckage and investigate the cause of the derailment. That work had not yet begun as of 10 p.m.
Several agencies assisted on Friday. The following is a list of some of them: Lavaca County OEM (Both Barthels and Judge Mark Myers), Texas Division of Emergency Management DDC 17, Lavaca County Sheriff’s Office, Lavaca County Precinct 3, Lavaca County EMS, City of Shiner Public Works, Shiner Volunteer Fire Department, Shiner Police Department, Moulton Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Yoakum Fire & EMS, Yoakum Police Department, Texas Department of Transportation and Union Pacific.
Bea’s was also kind enough to send along pizzas to public safety personnel, many of whom were about to call it a day at the end of the workweek when the emergency occurred and were still on the scene as of 11 p.m.
The cause of the derailment remains under investigation.