Shiner
Shiner Gazette
train derailment

Shiner's Avenue G railroad crossing is now open

  • Lavaca County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Egon Barthels, spent much of his initial response to Friday's derailment, manning the phones, first to establish a workable detour that didn't add too many unnecessary miles to anyone's travels, and later, to gather up the necessary forces needed for a clean-up of this magnitude.
    Lavaca County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Egon Barthels, spent much of his initial response to Friday's derailment, manning the phones, first to establish a workable detour that didn't add too many unnecessary miles to anyone's travels, and later, to gather up the necessary forces needed for a clean-up of this magnitude.

    Union Pacific crews were still busy working as of 3 a.m. Saturday, Lavaca County Emergency Management Coordinator Egon Barthels reported from the scene of Friday's train derailment in downtown Shiner, but they have managed to clear one of the railroad crossings for those who are trying to drive from east to west in the city.

    Barthels said that the Avenue G crossing — the city street that runs past the Mower Super Center on the east side of the tracks and the Shiner Post Office on the west side — is now open for through traffic. 

    The Avenue E crossing (U.S. Highway 90A), while the main city thoroughfare is also the site of the most damage and debris and will likely take the longest to clear.

    Barthels also passed along media contacts to Union Pacific, who will be fielding all questions on Friday's derailment.

    Emergency officials are still on scene, as are many Union Pacific cleanup workers. Motorists in the area are asked to drive carefully to avoid causing any needless injuries.

    Despite pile up of rail cars, reports of automobiles getting damaged when the derailment first occurred and heaps of coal littering almost everyplace downtown along the tracks, no one had yet been injured at the site as of about 10 p.m. Friday.

    While the sheer forces involved were no doubt the culprit, Shiner EMS crews said the derailment rattled the foundation over at the local Fire/ERMS station, which is set about half a city block from the railroad tracks. Many residents from around Shiner, who stopped by the derailment site to see the spectacle of it all before dark, said they weren't aware a derailment had even taken place had it not been for a few stray social media postings about it.

    Although contacts to Union Pacific were initiated at about 3:30 a.m., the newspaper still hasn't heard from anyone who speak on what might have caused today's accident. We will continue to provide updates, however, as soon as information becomes available.