Day after train car’s wheel comes off the track, downtown Salida traffic moving

Traffic was running smoothly through Salida on Tuesday morning, a day after a wheel of a train car came off the track, causing damage at two major intersections.

Joe Rizotto, fire captain for the Salida Fire Protection Department, said a Union Pacific 100-car train carrying lumber and other materials and traveling about 50 mph hours south toward Salida, had one of its wheels come loose, sliding inward down the axle and eventually off the track.

He said once the train reached the intersection at Kiernan Avenue, where the tracks are at ground level, the bad wheel tore up the concrete, which damaged the track. The train already was slowing, and the engineer was able to bring it to a stop about 500 yards past the intersection at Broadway Avenue, which also was damaged.

Rizotto, who spoke with a UP supervisor, said the problematic wheel was on a car carrying lumber and among the first 10 or so cars of the train.

UP personnel were brought in to lift the car and slide the wheel into the proper place and then repair damage to the tracks, Rizotto said.

Justin Jacobs, a UP spokesman, said the 3:45 p.m. incident remains under investigation.

The intersections along Salida Boulevard at Kiernan and Broadway avenues were closed into the evening.

In addition to lumber, Rizotto said one of the cars was carrying muriatic acid, a product used for cleaning and most associated with hydrochloric acid.

He said it was lucky there wasn’t a full derailment – or that the incident didn’t occur near a railroad switch, which could have caused further damage. He credited UP for its quick work to repair the track and get traffic moving again.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Day after train car’s wheel comes off the track, downtown Salida traffic moving."