Union Pacific Railroad Locomotive Fire Disrupts U.S.-Mexico Rail Traffic at Eagle Pass Port of Entry
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2019
An unexpected fire in a Union Pacific Railroad locomotive engine pulling a load of railroad cars approximately ten miles north of Eagle Pass, Texas caused a wooden bridge to burn and two cars on Sunday, September 15, 2019, disrupting vital rail traffic service between the United States and Mexico at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry.
The incident occurred on Union Pacific’s Spofford rail line to Eagle Pass on Sunday, September 15th, at approximately 11 p.m.
A small wooden rail bridge over a crossing creek burned, causing the important trade line between Spofford and Eagle Pass to be shut down to rail service. The Spofford rail line provides service to Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass Port of Entry between the United States and Mexico.
An estimated 1,800 railroad cars daily cross between the United States and Mexico at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry.
The Union Pacific locomotive’s fire incident has caused railroad service to be temporarily disrupted for several days while Union Pacific work crews and heavy equipment diligently work to clear and rebuild the burned wooden rail bridge and reopen the critical trade line.
Meanwhile, international railroad traffic at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry has come to a temporary halt until the key railroad line is repaired and reopened.
The large Constellations Brand beer brewery in Nava, Coahuila, Mexico, one of the largest in the world, generally uses this key Union Pacific railroad line to export hundreds of railroad cars daily filled with Corona beer cases and other brand beers to the United States.
The railroad service disruption is expected to be temporary as Union Pacific crews are working day and night to repair the wooden bridge and reopen the Spofford rail line, connecting it to the Eagle Pass Port of Entry. It is expected that the Spofford rail line should be reopened by the end of the week.
