The story behind "The Cross at the Loop"
On May 12, 1989, one of the most devastating accidents in the history of
the Southern Pacific Railroad occurred in a northwest suburb of San Bernardino, California
along the relatively new (opened in 1967) Palmdale-Colton "Cut-Off" line at the
foot of the Cajon Pass grade. Southern Pacific train 01-MJLBP-12 (Mojave, CA to Long
Beach, CA Unit Potash train), with 69 hopper cars loaded with potash south of Mojave at
Rosamond, CA lost control while descending the 2.2% grade on the south slope of Cajon
Pass. All 69 cars and six locomotives derailed when the train reached a curve next
to the suburban San Bernardino neighborhood along Duffy street near Highland Avenue.
The runaway train reached speeds in excess of 90 MPH (the maximum recordable speed on the
onboard "black box" speed recorder) in the descent of the 23 mile grade.
Killed in the accident were SP Conductor Everett S. Crown and Brakeman Allan R.
Riess. Also killed in trackside homes were two children ages 7 and 9, with eleven
additional people injured. Seven homes were destroyed outright by the accident, and
four more were damaged and eventually torn down. In response to the accident,
Southern Pacific agreed to pay all moving, storage and temporary housing costs for
displaced residents as well as purchase the eleven homes damaged or destroyed in the
accident. In addition, Southern Pacific agreed to reimburse the City of San
Bernardino for all expenses incurred in response to the accident, as well as any
judgements against the city resulting from the accident. Southern Pacific also
agreed to pay for inspection and necessary repair to a 14-inch petroleum pipeline buried
fourteen feet beneath the accident site.
A Second catastrophe struck the accident ravaged neighborhood two weeks
later on May 25th, when the petroleum pipeline that parallelled the rail line ruptured and
exploded, destroying eleven more homes and killing two more residents. Investigation
after the pipeline explosion found that CalNev Pipelines did not adequately inspect the
pipeline after the accident.
The cause of the accident was complex. The train weight was
estimated (no car scales exist in Rosamond) to be 6,151 tons, which is the information the
train's crew had. Later computations made by weighing similarly loaded cars
estimated the actual train weight to be near 8,970 tons. In addition, the train's
headend and helper power each had at least one unit with inoperable dynamic brakes.
This left the train with sufficient braking power for the reported weight, but not enough
for the actual weight.
In response to the loss of two of their co-workers, Southern Pacific and
its employees erected a large white cross at the peak of the hill in the middle of the
Tehachapi Loop. In addition, a memorial plaque and marble bench were placed
trackside on the loop with the bench facing the hill and cross. If you visit the
location, please remember to pause and reflect. Not only on the lives of the two
railroaders that were lost in this accident, but on those that live on and work their
trade every day on the nation's railroads.
