RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT--DERAILMENT OF AMTRAK TRAIN NO. 21 (THE EAGLE) ON THE MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD, WOODLAWN, TEXAS, NOVEMBER 12, 1983

About 10:09 a.m. on November 12, 1983, Amtrak train No. 21 (The Eagle), with 162 persons aboard, derailed near Woodlawn, Texas, while traveling at 72 mph on th Missouri Pacific Railroad. The train was traveling westbound on the single main track when it passed over a section of rail that a repair crew had just installed to replace a broken rail. The accident resulted in 4 passenger fatalities and 72 injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was torch-cutting a chrome-vanadium alloy rail in a track curve while making a temporary track repair, precipitating thermal cracks that served as the origin points for a catastrophic rail failure when a high-speed passenger train passed over.

  • Corporate Authors:

    National Transportation Safety Board

    Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, DC  United States  20594
  • Publication Date: 1985-2-4

Media Info

  • Pagination: 56 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00399551
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/PAR-85/01
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM