Amtrak train crashes, catches fire in Utah

WENDOVER, Utah -- An Amtrak train carrying stranded airline passengers and others to California on Thursday crashed into a freight train, derailed and caught fire in the western Utah desert. There were no serious injuries.

"It knocked me out of my chair and almost instantly the car filled with dust," said Scott Stopper, 41, who was stranded in Denver after taking a flight Tuesday.

"Instead of taking a flight home, I thought it would be safer to take a train," said Stopper, who lives in Campbell, Calif. "Now we have to take a bus."

The derailed train was the California Zephyr heading from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay area, said Amtrak spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson. Amtrak said 263 passengers and 14 crew members were on board. Two locomotives were pulling 15 cars, including seven passenger cars.

Authorities said it appeared the collision happened as the eastbound Union Pacific freight train was pulling onto a siding to let the Amtrak train pass. Tooele County Sheriff Frank Scharmann said the Amtrak train was going about 30 mph.

Utah Public Safety Commissioner Robert Flowers said the Amtrak train should have slowed down even more to allow the freight to get out of the way.