The 1995 Palo Verde derailment took place on October 9, 1995, when

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...

'' was derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona on

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

tracks. Two

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s, Amtrak GE P32-8BWH #511 leading and EMD F40PHR #398 trailing, and eight of twelve cars derailed, four of them falling 30 feet (9 m) off a trestle bridge into a dry river bed. Mitchell Bates, a

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

attendant, was killed. Seventy-eight people were injured, 12 of them seriously and 25 were hospitalized.

Incident

Four typewritten notes, attacking the

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

for the 1993

Waco Siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by US federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians, between February 28 and April 19, 1993 ...

, criticizing local law enforcement, and signed "Sons of the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

", were found near the scene of the wreck, indicating that notes had been left nearby. All four notes were similar. One of the notes was found by Neal Hallford, a passenger traveling from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. It was found that the rails had been shifted out of position to cause the derailment, but only after they had been connected with wires. This kept the

track circuit A track circuit is an electrical device used to prove the absence of a train on a block of rail tracks to control railway signals. An alternative to track circuits are axle counters. Principles and operation The basic principle behind the t ...

closed, circumventing safety systems designed to warn locomotive engineers of track problems, and suggested that the saboteurs had a working knowledge of railroads. The attack was likened to the 1939 wreck of the '' City of San Francisco'', in which a similar method killed 24 people. Following the incident, Amtrak President Thomas Downs told CNN that improved monitoring and security measures have greatly reduced the chances of a similar incident. After 1996, the ''

'' was rerouted to south of Phoenix (approaching no closer than Maricopa) due to the desire of

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

to abandon this stretch of track for its through trains between southern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The section of track, now known as the Roll Industrial Lead of the Phoenix Subdivision, on which the derailment took place is now used as storage track only.

Media coverage

The cause of this wreck has been explored in a couple of major documentaries, including: ''Why Trains Crash: Blood on the Tracks'', “ Investigative Reports: Danger on the Rails” and ''Derailed: America's Worst Train Wrecks''. It has also been featured on the May 10, 1996, episode of ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Kar ...

''. and Parcasts’ Conspiracy Theories podcast on Spotify on April 17, 2024.

Investigation

The case remains unsolved. On April 10, 2015, the Phoenix office of the FBI announced a reward of $310,000 for information about the derailment leading to the capture of those responsible. The reward is still outstanding .

References

External links

Amtrak
–

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palo Verde Derailment 1995 in Arizona 1995 murders in the United States Accidents and incidents involving Amtrak Accidents and incidents involving Southern Pacific Railroad Attacks in the United States in 1995 Derailments in the United States Events in Maricopa County, Arizona American murder victims October 1995 crimes in the United States Railway accidents and incidents in Arizona Railway accidents in 1995 Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators Terrorist incidents in Arizona Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1995 Rail sabotage in the United States Unsolved murders in the United States

Incident

Media coverage

Investigation

See also

References

External links