Disabled Freight Blocks Davis Depot for 8 Hours
Author: relentlesscactus
Date: 11-30-2021 - 20:31
At about 2pm on Monday, a long westbound Union Pacific freight train MRVOA was making a set-out of cars in the small yard east of the depot along 2nd Street. While backing in through the depot, the train broke a knuckle and separated between cars, causing the air brake system to depressurize and stop the train.
However, the train crew was not able to repair the knuckle themselves and had to wait for Union Pacific car repair employees to be dispatched from Roseville. This turned out to be a challenging repair and the disabled freight ended up blocking Capitol Corridor trains from access to the Davis train station after 2pm Monday. The freight was on the inner track #1 and extended well past the end of the platform in both directions, preventing passenger access to the depot from the still-operational outer track #2. Eight trains in total were unable to stop in Davis, three westbound and five eastbound.
Passengers for Davis had to take a bus bridge to and from Sacramento for travel in either direction. Passengers eastbound from the Bay Area, for example, had to travel to Sacramento and take a bus back to Davis, passing through Davis on the way and doubling back. For the last westbound train of the day scheduled to leave Davis at 8:10pm, passengers were bused to the waiting train at Vacaville.
The freight train received a patch crew and finally got underway at 9:50pm, about eight hours after initially breaking down. No freight trains passed through Davis during the entire incident.
Curious that UPRR didn't send an engine from Roseville to pull the east end of the train clear of the depot, and possibly even set out the troubled car to be repaired off the main line.