An Amtrak passenger train carrying 155 passengers and a crew of 12 was forced to stop on the tracks near Del Rio, in south Texas due to a fire early Friday that badly damaged a key railroad bridge southwest of San Antonio., 1200 WOAI news reports.
Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak in Chicago, says the passenger line is chartering buses to bring the passengers to San Antonio.
He says the train, Amtrak's eastbound 'Sunset Limited' from Los Angeles to New Orleans, has been stopped since shortly after 1AM.
"We are taking care of the passengers," Magliari said. "They have food, everything on the train is working all the water, electricity, and air conditioning."
The fire broke out around midnight on the bridge that carries the railroad tracks used by the Sunset Limited near Macdona Texas, according to Jeff DeGraff of the Union Pacific Railroad.
A passenger on boa rd called News Radio 1200 WOAI news to talk about the situation.
"The whole train smells like, excuse me, urine and feces," said the woman who asked not to be identified by name. "We can't even flush the toilet."
She says some passengers walked to a McDonald's in Del Rio, but that's the only food they've gotten.
"Passengers on the train have been used their own air fresheners, even their own perfumes, to try to clear the air," she said.
"It looks like about a third of the bridge will need to be replaced as soon as possible," DeGraff said. "This is a very important east west line for us."
DeGraff said not only does this rail line carry freight, as well as Amtrak passenger trains, across the south and southwest, it also connects to the main rail line south into Mexico, to bring freight north into the U.S.
"For right now, we do have some trains that are being rerouted on alternate lines, mainly going north into Dallas, then they can come back down to San Antonio," DeGraff said. "We also have some trains that have a little more flexibility in their schedule, and we have been able to hold those."
He says there is no 'firm estimate' on how long it will take to rebuild the section of railroad bridge that was damaged in the fire.
Bexar County fire crews who were called to fight the fire say they don't know how it started, but the 'trestle' style railroad bridge was fully engulfed in flames by the time they arrived. Nobody was injured in the fire.
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