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One of the most fundamental laws of urban survival says, “Never challenge a train for the right of way.” The driver of this garbage truck may have violated that law when he found himself sharing a private railroad crossing with a north bound Amtrak passenger train on the morning of May 5, 1998.

The result was devastating to both modes of transportation. The locomotives derailed and rolled over with the lead unit catching fire. The collision tore up several hundred feet of track, derailing seven passenger cars in the process. The garbage truck had to be removed in three pieces on a flat bed truck.

The driver of the garbage truck was killed. Of the 104 passengers and 13 crew members on the train, 12 people were transported to area hospitals. The remainder of passengers were offered a bus ride to their destinations.

The crash occurred on one of the Union Pacific’s busiest stretches of rail. The Union Pacific brought in a company from San Antonio that specializes in railroad work. They immediately began to clear the wreckage. By 7:00 p.m. the crew began laying new track. By 11:00 p.m. the trains were running again.

The remains of the garbage truck came to rest next to the tracks. Momentum carried the train approximately 150 yards beyond where the truck came to rest.

Fortunately, none of the passenger cars rolled over.

An investigator from the Texas Department of Public Safety inspects the tail lights on the garbage truck. I am told that the condition of the filaments shows investigators if the driver had his foot on the brakes at the time of impact. If the filaments are burned out, other things can be determined as well.

I’ve seen coal train derailments cleaned up in Colorado. In those cases the three tools of choice appeared to be a cutting torch, front end loader and dump truck.

In this case the derailed cars were treated like gold. The contractor brought in a small army and a half dozen of these bulldozers with side mounted cranes.

Each car was suspended between the tractors and lovingly ferried back to the good section of rail and gently placed back on the track.

Reporter Shelton Green ( left) confers with producer Scott Reather before a live shot from the crash sight.