Pecos Train Derailment: Two Railroad Workers Dead, Three Injured — What the Families Need to Know Right Now
If you are reading this because someone you love went to work on a Union Pacific freight train on December 18, 2024, and did not come home — or because you were inside a building in Pecos when a derailed train came through the wall — you are in a place no one prepares you for. The first thing you need to hear is simple: what happened to your family is not just a tragedy. It is a legal event with a clock on it, and the clock is already running against you.
Two Union Pacific employees were killed when their freight train collided with a tractor-trailer at a railway crossing in Pecos, Texas, just before 5 p.m. on a Wednesday evening in December. The train derailed. Three people were hurt — some of them inside the Pecos Chamber of Commerce building when the derailed train struck it with enough force that officials warned no one should enter until a structural engineer inspected the damage. The train was carrying hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries and air bags. None were released, and the leaked diesel fuel was contained. The National Transportation Safety Board deployed an investigative team. Cleanup was underway.
The scene is being cleaned up. The evidence is being touched, moved, and cleared. The trucking company’s electronic data — the data that would show how fast that tractor-trailer was moving, whether the driver stopped at the crossing, how many hours the driver had been behind the wheel — is on a retention clock that expires in days, not months. And the railroad’s claim agents are already working.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm. We handle catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases in Texas, including railroad worker deaths under FELA and commercial trucking collisions. This page is the education we want you to have before you talk to any adjuster, sign any paper, or accept any check. Everything here is free. The consultation is free. And we do not get paid unless we win your case.
What Happened in Pecos: The Incident and Why It Is Legally Different From an Ordinary Crash
A train-versus-tractor-trailer collision at a grade crossing is not a car wreck scaled up. It is a different legal universe, because the people killed and injured fall into different legal categories with different rights, different deadlines, and different defendants.
The two Union Pacific employees who died were railroad workers killed in the course of their employment. Their families’ claims against the railroad run through a federal statute called the Federal Employers’ Liability Act — FELA — which is nothing like workers’ compensation. It is a fault-based system, but with a burden of proof so low that the railroad can be liable if its negligence contributed “even the slightest” to the deaths. And the families may also have separate claims against the trucking company that caused the crossing collision.
The three people who were injured — including those inside the damaged Chamber of Commerce building — are bystanders. Their claims run through ordinary Texas negligence law against whoever caused the collision and derailment, which could include the tractor-trailer operator, the trucking company that employed or dispatched the driver, and potentially Union Pacific itself if train speed, signal maintenance, or crossing design played a role.
This dual-track structure — FELA for the railroad workers, Texas tort law for the bystanders — is the spine of the entire case. Getting it wrong, or letting one track expire while pursuing the other, is how families lose recoveries they did not know they had.
FELA: The Federal Law That Protects Railroad Workers Killed on the Job
Railroad employees are not covered by workers’ compensation. Congress built a separate, worker-favorable system more than a century ago, and it is still the exclusive remedy for a railroad worker injured or killed by the railroad’s negligence.
The foundational statute — 45 U.S.C. § 51 — provides:
“for such injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, works, boats, wharves, or other equipment.”
Read that language carefully. “In whole or in part.” The railroad does not have to be the primary cause. It does not have to be 51% at fault. It has to have contributed — even a little — and the full weight of liability follows.
The “Slightest Negligence” Standard
The Supreme Court locked this in more than sixty years ago. In Rogers v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 352 U.S. 500 (1957), the Court held that “the test of a jury case is simply whether the proofs justify with reason the conclusion that employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury or death for which damages are sought.” In 2011, the Supreme Court reaffirmed this in CSX Transportation, Inc. v. McBride, 564 U.S. 685 (2011), holding that FELA does not incorporate common-law proximate cause — the featherweight standard still governs.
What this means for the families of the two killed UP employees: you do not have to prove the railroad was primarily at fault. You have to prove the railroad’s negligence played any part. If the crossing signals were inadequate, if the crossing design was substandard, if the train was traveling too fast for the crossing conditions, if the crew was fatigued from a schedule the railroad set — any one of these, standing alone, can meet the standard. The truck caused the collision, yes. But the railroad’s own choices may have contributed to making the collision fatal, and under FELA, that is enough.
What FELA Gives You That Workers’ Comp Does Not
FELA is a full tort system, not a benefit schedule. The families can recover:
- Lost future earnings — railroad engineers and conductors typically earn substantial wages with robust benefit packages and union-protected seniority. The lifetime earning capacity of a railroad worker killed in mid-career is a significant economic loss.
- Loss of consortium and society — what the surviving spouse, children, and dependents lost in companionship, guidance, and support.
- Pre-impact terror — the seconds between when the crew saw the truck on the crossing and the moment of collision are compensable.
- Conscious pain and suffering — if survival occurred between collision and death, even briefly.
- Funeral expenses.
- Full medical expenses for any treatment rendered before death.
There is no statutory cap on FELA damages. Texas imposes no general damage cap on wrongful death claims outside the medical malpractice context. The full measure of human and economic loss is recoverable.
Contributory Negligence Reduces, Not Bars
Under 45 U.S.C. § 53, if the employee’s own negligence contributed to the injury, the recovery is reduced proportionally — but it is not eliminated. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar for the third-party claims, meaning a plaintiff cannot recover if assigned 51% or more of the fault. But under FELA, the railroad cannot use the worker’s own negligence to zero out the claim. And if the railroad violated a federal safety statute enacted for the protection of employees, the worker’s contributory negligence is wiped out entirely — the jury is not even allowed to consider it.
The Railroad Cannot Make You Sign Away These Rights
Under 45 U.S.C. § 55, “any contract, rule, regulation, or device whatsoever, the purpose or intent of which shall be to enable any common carrier to exempt itself from any liability created by this chapter, shall to that extent be void.” A release signed in the hospital. A company policy. A quick settlement pushed by a claim agent in the days after the death. If its purpose is to shield the railroad, it is legally worthless. This matters because railroad claim agents move fast, and grief makes families vulnerable to a check that comes with a release printed on the back.
The Assumption-of-Risk Defense Is Dead
Under 45 U.S.C. § 54, the railroad cannot argue that the worker “knew the job was dangerous.” That defense is abolished by statute. The railroad cannot escape by pointing to the inherent hazards of operating a freight train through a grade crossing.
The FELA Deadline: Three Years
Under 45 U.S.C. § 56, a FELA claim must be filed within three years from the day the cause of action accrued. The worker’s family can sue in state or federal court, and if they choose state court, the railroad generally cannot remove the case to federal court. This is a meaningful strategic advantage — a Reeves County jury is a West Texas jury, and the community’s familiarity with both railroad operations and oilfield trucking shapes the courtroom in ways that matter.
But three years is the FELA deadline. The third-party claims against the trucking company are governed by Texas’s statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death — two years from the date of injury or death. That is a shorter clock, and it runs on the same event. A family that waits to pursue the FELA claim and lets the two-year Texas deadline pass on the third-party trucking claim has permanently lost that track of recovery.
The Tractor-Trailer: The Grade-Crossing Stop Requirement and Negligence Per Se
The tractor-trailer operator and the motor carrier that employed or dispatched the driver have not been publicly identified. Identifying them is the critical first investigative objective — through Pecos Police crash reports, Reeves County records, NTSB preliminary findings, and Union Pacific’s own claim filings. Once the carrier is identified, an entirely separate track of liability opens.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations impose specific duties on commercial drivers at railroad grade crossings. Under 49 CFR 392.10, certain commercial motor vehicles are required to stop before proceeding across railroad tracks. If the tractor-trailer failed to comply with this mandatory stop requirement, that regulatory violation establishes negligence per se under Texas law — meaning the violation itself is evidence of negligence that the jury can be instructed to consider.
This is not a minor traffic rule. The grade-crossing stop requirement exists because the physics of a train-versus-truck collision are catastrophic and almost entirely one-directional. A loaded freight train weighs thousands of tons. A tractor-trailer, even fully loaded, weighs roughly 40 tons. The train cannot stop in time — a freight train at track speed can require over a mile to come to a complete stop. The truck, however, can stop. The law requires it to stop. And when it does not, the collision that follows is the foreseeable, predicted result of a rule that was written in blood.
The Hours-of-Service Question
If the tractor-trailer was serving the Permian Basin oilfield — a strong inference given Pecos’s location in the heart of the basin — the driver’s hours of service are a primary investigative target. Federal law caps a commercial driver at 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour shift (49 CFR 395.3). Oilfield operations, with their long drives to remote well sites and pressure to meet delivery deadlines, are notorious for pushing drivers past these limits. A fatigued driver who fails to stop at a grade crossing is not just negligent — the company that set the schedule, dispatched the driver, or failed to monitor compliance is directly at fault.
The Driver Qualification File
Under 49 CFR 391.51, the motor carrier must maintain a driver qualification file containing the employment application, motor vehicle record, road-test certificate, annual review, medical certification, and training records. This file must be retained for the duration of employment plus three years. If the driver had a history of violations, prior crashes, or inadequate training, the carrier knew or should have known — and negligent hiring, training, and supervision claims follow.
The Post-Crash Drug and Alcohol Testing Requirement
Under 49 CFR 382.303, a fatal crash involving a commercial motor vehicle triggers mandatory post-accident drug and alcohol testing of the driver. For alcohol, the carrier must attempt the test promptly and cease attempts after 8 hours. For controlled substances, the carrier must cease attempts after 32 hours. If the test was not done, the carrier must document why. A missing test — or a missing explanation for why no test was done — is itself powerful evidence.
Union Pacific: The Defendant on the FELA Track
Union Pacific Railroad, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is a Class I freight railroad operating approximately 32,000 route miles across 23 states. It is subject to Federal Railroad Administration safety jurisdiction and FELA obligations for its workforce. It maintains substantial self-insured retention and commercial insurance layers appropriate to a carrier with multi-billion-dollar annual revenue. This is a deep-pocket defendant with an experienced claims and legal defense apparatus — not a company that will be surprised or unprepared.
Union Pacific has faced prior FELA litigation and derailment claims nationwide. Its claim agents are professionals. They know the law. They know the deadlines. And they are already working this case — preserving the railroad’s evidence, taking statements, building the railroad’s defense narrative. The families need someone doing the same thing on their side.
The Crossing Itself
The specific grade crossing in Pecos where the collision occurred is a central investigative target. Rural grade crossings in the Permian Basin region vary widely in signalization quality — from active gates and lights to passive crossbuck signage. If this crossing had only passive signage — a white crossbuck without gates, flashing lights, or bells — the question of whether that was adequate for a crossing carrying freight trains and oilfield truck traffic is a FELA negligence question. Did Union Pacific conduct crossing safety audits? Were there prior incidents at this specific crossing? Were the signals, if any, properly maintained and timed? Were sightlines adequate for a tractor-trailer approaching the tracks?
The Permian Basin’s decade-long surge in oilfield truck traffic has created documented friction between highway safety, crossing adequacy, and rail operations at rural West Texas grade crossings. This is not an abstract policy concern — it is the specific, foreseeable danger that a crossing in Pecos would be encountered by a heavy truck driver who may not be familiar with the crossing, may not see a train in time, and may not stop.
The Evidence Is Dying Right Now: What Exists, Who Holds It, and How Fast It Disappears
This is the most time-sensitive section of this page. Every record listed below exists right now. Some of it will be legally destroyable in weeks. Some of it is being physically removed from the scene as you read this.
Train Event Recorder / Locomotive Black Box
The locomotive’s event recorder captured the train’s speed, braking application, horn activation, throttle position, and crew control inputs at the time of collision. This data is controlled by Union Pacific. It can be overwritten or altered if not locked. A preservation demand and spoliation letter must go to Union Pacific immediately — the data that shows whether the train was traveling at the appropriate speed, whether the horn was sounded at the crossing, and whether the crew attempted to brake is the foundation of both the FELA claim and any third-party claim against the railroad.
Grade Crossing Signal Logs and Maintenance Records
If the crossing had active signals — gates, lights, bells — the signal logs show whether they were functioning, properly timed, and activated at the moment of collision. Historical maintenance and inspection records show whether Union Pacific or the responsible signal maintainer had notice of defects. Signal data may have short retention cycles. These records must be formally demanded before remediation or routine overwrite.
Tractor-Trailer ELD / Telematics / GPS Data
The truck’s electronic logging device captures the driver’s hours of service, speed approaching the crossing, braking events, route history, and vehicle location. Federal regulations require a minimum 8-day ELD retention — but the carrier must be identified and a preservation letter sent immediately, or the data will be overwritten. The carrier’s own telematics system may retain more data, but on the carrier’s own schedule, not yours.
Truck Dash Camera Footage
If the truck was equipped with a dash camera — and many commercial fleets are — the footage shows the approach to the crossing, the driver’s behavior, the signal status, and the collision impact. Typical retention is 30 to 90 days depending on the system. An immediate demand is required upon carrier identification.
CCTV from the Chamber of Commerce and Nearby Pecos Businesses
The Chamber of Commerce building was damaged in the derailment — which means it was close enough to the tracks to be struck by derailed equipment. That also means any cameras on or near that building may have captured the collision, the derailment sequence, the debris trajectory, and the building impact. Most small-business camera systems overwrite within 30 to 60 days. A canvass of nearby businesses and preservation demands must go out within days, not weeks.
Locomotive Forward-Facing Video and Audio
If the locomotive was equipped with forward-facing video — and many UP locomotives are — it captured the crossing approach, the signal status, the truck’s position on the tracks, and the crew’s communications in the final seconds. Union Pacific’s retention policies vary, and this data is at risk of routine overwrite. An immediate preservation demand is required.
Driver Qualification File and Pre-Employment Screening Records
The truck driver’s medical certification, training records, prior violations, drug and alcohol testing history, and grade-crossing training documentation are all part of the DQ file. These must be preserved per FMCSR and are available through discovery once the carrier is identified — but an early preservation demand prevents destruction.
Scene Physical Evidence
Skid marks, debris field, crossing condition, track damage — the physical evidence of vehicle speeds, point of impact, crossing sightlines, and derailment dynamics is foundational to accident reconstruction. The article confirms cleanup is underway. The scene is being remediated rapidly. Every day that passes without an independent site inspection and photogrammetry is a day the physical evidence degrades or disappears.
The NTSB Investigation: What It Means and What It Does Not Mean
The NTSB is conducting the on-scene investigation under its railroad accident investigation authority. The agency has stated it does not determine or speculate about the cause during the on-scene phase. A preliminary report may be issued within weeks. The final report — with a probable-cause finding — typically takes 12 to 24 months.
Here is the critical legal fact: the NTSB’s probable-cause conclusion is not admissible in a civil trial. Federal law keeps the Board’s analysis of blame out of the courtroom — a family still has to prove what happened with their own experts, their own evidence, their own investigation. But the factual findings the NTSB’s investigators surface — the signal status, the speed, the truck’s positioning, the crossing geometry — can be used, and the NTSB investigator can be asked about those facts. The NTSB final report is invaluable for expert work and cross-examination, but it is not a substitute for an independent investigation, and it does not determine legal liability.
Counsel should seek party-of-interest status to access the NTSB’s factual investigation as it develops — but this requires acting through the investigation’s formal participant structure, and the window for participation opens early.
The “Minor Injuries” Trap: Why First-Responder Assessments Are Not the Final Word
Public reporting characterized the three non-fatal injuries as “minor.” That characterization came from first responders at the scene — and it is preliminary, not definitive. Here is why that label can be dangerously wrong.
The mechanism of injury in this derailment was not a fender-bender. The people who were hurt were either struck by or impacted by a derailed freight train — a force event involving thousands of tons of steel. Some were inside a building that sustained structural damage significant enough that officials advised against entry until an engineer could inspect it. That mechanism — building impact, debris, structural collapse forces — produces injuries that do not always announce themselves at the scene.
Traumatic Brain Injury Can Hide Behind a Normal Scan
A “mild” traumatic brain injury — the medical term for a concussion-level injury — can come with a perfectly normal CT scan. That is the standard presentation, not the exception. The Glasgow Coma Scale, which emergency responders use to grade consciousness, calls a 13-to-15 “mild” — but “mild” is a triage word, not a prognosis. More than a third of patients scored at a 13 on that scale have potentially life-threatening intracranial lesions. The symptoms that matter — headaches, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, personality changes — may not appear for days or weeks. You may see it across the dinner table before any scan sees it. And these injuries are proven with neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and the testimony of people who knew the person before.
Spinal and Orthopedic Injuries Can Have Delayed Onset
The forces involved in a derailment-level impact — deceleration, debris strike, structural building impact — can produce spinal injuries, ligamentous damage, and occult fractures that do not manifest immediately. A person who walked away from the scene may develop radiculopathy, weakness, or chronic pain weeks later as inflammation progresses and imaging that was not ordered at the scene finally catches what was always there.
The Full Medical Evaluation Is Not Optional
If you were injured in this derailment — whether you were in the building, near the tracks, or responding to the scene — you need a full medical evaluation by a treating physician, not just a clearance from a first responder. Document everything. The gap between “I felt okay at the scene” and “I cannot remember my daughter’s name at dinner three weeks later” is a gap the defense will exploit if it is not documented.
Hazardous Materials and Exposure Monitoring
The train was carrying lithium-ion batteries and air bags as hazardous materials. While none were released and the leaked diesel fuel was contained, the proximity of first responders, building occupants, and bystanders to derailed hazardous materials raises exposure monitoring concerns. Lithium-ion battery thermal runaway — which can occur hours or days after mechanical damage — produces toxic off-gassing. If you were in proximity to the derailed cargo, inform your physician and document any respiratory, dermatological, or neurological symptoms.
What a Case Like This Is Worth: An Honest Evaluation
We do not promise results. Every case depends on its facts. But we can give you the framework that experienced counsel uses to evaluate a case of this nature, so you understand what is at stake and what the other side is calculating.
The Two FELA Wrongful Death Claims
These are the primary value drivers. Each claim’s value depends on the decedent’s age, earnings trajectory, dependents, years of remaining service, and the degree of railroad negligence established through investigation. Railroad engineers and conductors typically earn substantial wages with robust benefit packages and union-protected seniority. The present value of a railroad worker’s lost future earnings — calculated by a forensic economist using worklife expectancy tables and discount rates — can be significant. When you add loss of consortium, pre-impact terror, conscious pain and suffering, and funeral expenses, each FELA wrongful death claim can range from approximately $2 million to $8 million or more, depending on the individual circumstances.
The Three Personal Injury Claims
If the injuries are genuinely minor — soft tissue, minor lacerations, resolved quickly — the collective value of the three claims may be approximately $100,000 to $750,000. But if traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, or delayed-onset conditions are diagnosed — and the mechanism of injury in this derailment warrants careful screening for exactly those conditions — individual claims could reach $500,000 to $3 million each, particularly if structural building damage caused crush or impact injuries with lasting consequences.
Total Case Value Range
Based on the information available, the total case value across all claims could range from approximately $5 million on the low end to $25 million or more on the high end. This is gated on three factors: the NTSB’s and independent investigation’s fault findings, identification of the motor carrier and its insurance coverage, and whether comparative negligence is allocated between the truck and the railroad.
The Insurance Reality
Union Pacific, as a Class I railroad with multi-billion-dollar annual revenue, maintains substantial self-insured retention and commercial insurance layers. The company’s own dollars sit on the first layer of any demand — which means the company has a direct financial incentive to fight, not just hand the matter to an insurer.
The tractor-trailer’s motor carrier, once identified, is subject to federal financial responsibility minimums: $750,000 for general freight, $1 million for certain hazardous materials, and potentially $5 million or more for the most dangerous hazmat cargo. If the truck was hauling oilfield-related cargo — a strong inference given the Permian Basin location — the carrier may be subject to higher minimums. But the federal minimum is a floor, not a ceiling. Many carriers carry excess and umbrella layers well above the minimum. Identifying the full coverage tower is critical.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
The Insurance Adjuster’s Playbook: What They Will Do and How to Counter It
Play 1: The “Just Checking In” Call
Within days, someone friendly will call to “check on you” and ask you to “just tell us what happened” — on a recording built to be quoted against you. The voice is warm. The purpose is not. Every word you say will be transcribed and used to narrow the company’s exposure. The counter is simple: do not give a recorded statement to any railroad claim agent, trucking company insurer, or third-party administrator without counsel. You are not required to. Your kindness will not be reciprocated.
Play 2: The Fast Check With a Release
A settlement check may arrive fast, with a release attached, before your medical results are in or the NTSB has issued even a preliminary report. The check looks generous in the moment. The release is permanent. Once you sign, you cannot reopen the claim when the MRI shows the brain injury the CT missed, or when the economist calculates the lifetime earnings your family actually lost. The counter: do not sign any document from any carrier or insurer without having it reviewed by counsel. Under FELA, any contract or device designed to exempt the railroad from liability is void — but fighting a release you already signed is a battle you do not want.
Play 3: The “Minor Injuries” Framing
The defense will lean on the “minor injuries” characterization from the scene. They will point to the clean CT, the discharge from the ER, the fact that you “walked away.” They will feed this into claim valuation software that discounts pain it cannot see. The counter: get the full evaluation, document the symptoms, and build the medical record from day one. The defense’s narrative is only as strong as the evidence you let them build it from. What you should not say to an insurance adjuster is a question we answer in detail — and the short version is: nothing, without a lawyer in the room.
Play 4: Blame the Victim
The railroad may argue that its own employees contributed to the collision — that the crew should have seen the truck sooner, should have braked earlier, should have sounded the horn at a different time. Under FELA, contributory negligence reduces but does not bar recovery — and if the railroad violated a federal safety statute, the worker’s negligence is wiped off the board entirely. For the trucking company, the defense may argue comparative fault, pointing at the train crew, the crossing design, or even the injured bystanders. Texas’s modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar means every percentage point of fault assigned to the plaintiff is money — which is exactly why the adjuster works so hard to pin fault on the injured.
Play 5: The Delay Toward the Deadline
The adjuster may be patient — offering nothing, requesting more documentation, promising to “review” — while the statute of limitations runs. The FELA deadline is three years. The Texas third-party deadline is two years. The adjuster knows both. The strategy is to let the clock run while the family grieves, then settle for a fraction of the case’s value when the deadline pressure mounts. The counter is early counsel and a preservation letter that puts the carrier on notice that the evidence and the claim are being actively protected.
How We Build the Proof: The Case From Week One to Resolution
Here is how a case like this is actually built.
Week one: The preservation demand goes out — to Union Pacific for the event recorder data, the locomotive video, the signal logs, the crew’s hours-of-service records, and the crossing maintenance history. To the motor carrier, once identified, for the ELD data, the dash camera footage, the driver qualification file, the post-accident drug and alcohol test results, and the dispatch records. To nearby Pecos businesses for CCTV. The scene is inspected and documented with photogrammetry before cleanup erases the physical evidence.
Weeks two through eight: The NTSB preliminary report is issued. Counsel seeks party-of-interest status to access the factual investigation. The motor carrier is identified through crash reports and NTSB filings. The FMCSA SAFER database is pulled for the carrier’s operating authority, safety rating, crash history, and inspection record. The driver’s qualification file, hours-of-service records, and training curriculum are demanded. The injured bystanders receive full medical evaluations, and the medical record is built from the ground up — not from the scene clearance, but from the treating physicians, the neuropsychological testing, the advanced imaging that the ER never ordered.
Months three through twelve: Expert retention — a railroad safety engineer to evaluate the crossing design and signal adequacy, an accident reconstruction specialist to calculate speeds and forces, a forensic economist to calculate the present value of lost earnings, a structural engineer to evaluate the Chamber of Commerce building damage and occupant injury mechanism. Discovery proceeds — depositions of the railroad’s safety director, the trucking company’s dispatch manager, the signal maintainer. The defense’s experts are deposed and cross-examined.
Months twelve through twenty-four: The NTSB final report is issued. Its conclusions are inadmissible, but its factual findings guide the expert work and the cross-examination. Mediation is timed after the NTSB preliminary findings but before the final report if liability clarity emerges early. For third-party claims against the trucking insurer, policy limits are evaluated and a Texas Stowers-style demand may be considered to create bad-faith exposure if the insurer refuses a reasonable settlement within policy limits.
The number at the end is built from all of it — the frozen evidence, the medical record, the expert analysis, the deposition testimony, the economic model. It is not a number the adjuster offers in week one. It is a number that is earned through the work.
The First 72 Hours: Your Roadmap
Hour 1 Through 24
Medical first. If you were injured — even if you “feel okay” — see a treating physician, not just an emergency room clearance. Tell the doctor exactly what happened: the forces involved, the building impact, the proximity to the derailment. Request imaging that goes beyond what the ER ordered if symptoms persist. Document everything.
Do not give recorded statements. Not to Union Pacific’s claim agents. Not to the trucking company’s insurer. Not to any third-party administrator. You are not required to, and everything you say will be transcribed and used.
Do not sign anything. No medical authorizations. No wage authorizations. No release forms. No “routine paperwork” from any carrier. Have everything reviewed by counsel first.
Do not post on social media. The adjuster’s investigators are already watching. A photo of you at a family event three weeks after the derailment will be used to argue your injuries were not serious. A comment about how you are “doing okay” will be quoted in a motion to dismiss your claim.
Day 2 Through 3
Preserve evidence. If you have photos or video from the scene, save them. If you were inside the Chamber of Commerce building, document the damage you observed. If you know witnesses, write down their names and contact information — memory degrades, and in a small community like Pecos, word-of-mouth can alter recollections.
Contact counsel. The preservation letter — the document that orders Union Pacific, the motor carrier, and nearby businesses to freeze the evidence before it disappears — is the single most time-sensitive step. The firm’s 48-hour evidence-preservation protocol exists for exactly this reason. The day you call is the day the clock starts working for you instead of against you.
Day 3 Through 72
Identify the motor carrier. Through the Pecos Police crash report, Reeves County records, and NTSB preliminary findings, the tractor-trailer operator and its motor carrier entity can be identified. This unlocks the entire third-party claim track — the ELD data, the DQ file, the insurance coverage, the negligent hiring and training theories.
Screen for delayed injuries. If new symptoms appear — headaches, dizziness, memory gaps, back pain, numbness, vision changes — return to your physician immediately. The gap between the scene and the first documentation of these symptoms is a gap the defense will exploit. Close it with contemporaneous medical records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the families of the killed Union Pacific employees sue?
Yes. The families have claims under FELA — the Federal Employers’ Liability Act — which is the exclusive federal remedy for railroad workers killed by the railroad’s negligence. FELA is not workers’ compensation. It is a fault-based system, but the burden is extraordinarily low: the railroad is liable if its negligence contributed “even the slightest” to the deaths. The families may also have separate wrongful death claims under Texas law against the tractor-trailer operator and its motor carrier. These are two different legal tracks with two different deadlines. Wrongful death claims in Texas are governed by specific statutes that define who may recover and what damages are available.
How long do I have to file a claim after the Pecos train derailment?
It depends on which track your claim falls under. FELA claims for the killed railroad employees must be filed within three years from the date the cause of action accrued — December 18, 2024 — under 45 U.S.C. § 56. Third-party claims against the trucking company under Texas law are governed by Texas’s statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death — two years from the date of injury or death. The bystander injury claims also fall under the two-year Texas deadline. These clocks run simultaneously. Missing either one permanently bars that track of recovery. Do not wait to find out which deadline applies — talk to counsel now, while both clocks are still running.
What if the truck driver was at fault — who pays?
If the tractor-trailer operator failed to stop at the grade crossing as required by federal regulation, or was fatigued, or was driving in violation of hours-of-service rules, the driver and the motor carrier that employed or dispatched the driver are liable. The carrier is vicariously responsible for its driver’s negligence under respondeat superior, and may be directly liable for negligent hiring, training, supervision, and hours-of-service compliance. The carrier’s insurance — which must meet federal minimums of $750,000 for general freight, $1 million for certain hazmat, or potentially $5 million for the most dangerous cargo — is the primary recovery source, with excess and umbrella layers above that. Identifying the carrier is the first investigative step.
The police said my injuries were “minor” — should I still get checked?
Yes. The “minor” characterization came from first responders at the scene, and it is preliminary, not definitive. The mechanism of injury in this derailment — thousands of tons of derailed steel, structural building damage, debris impact — produces injuries that do not always appear immediately. Traumatic brain injury can present with a normal CT scan. Spinal injuries can have delayed onset. The full evaluation by a treating physician — not just a scene clearance — is essential. The gap between “I felt fine at the scene” and “I cannot concentrate three weeks later” is a gap the defense will exploit if it is not documented in contemporaneous medical records.
What is FELA and how is it different from workers’ compensation?
FELA — the Federal Employers’ Liability Act — is a federal tort remedy, not a no-fault benefit system. Unlike workers’ compensation, which pays a preset benefit schedule regardless of fault, FELA requires the worker (or the worker’s family) to prove the railroad’s negligence contributed to the injury or death. But the burden is extraordinarily low — “even the slightest” negligence suffices. In exchange for that lower burden, FELA gives the family full tort damages: lost future earnings, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and all the human and economic losses workers’ comp was never designed to pay. There is no statutory cap on FELA damages. The assumption-of-risk defense is abolished. Any waiver or release designed to shield the railroad is void by federal law. And the family chooses the courthouse — state or federal — with the railroad generally unable to remove a state-court FELA case to federal court.
What evidence disappears fastest after a train-truck collision?
The fastest-dying evidence is the physical scene — skid marks, debris, track damage, crossing condition — because cleanup was underway the day after the collision. Next is the truck’s electronic logging data, which can be overwritten in as little as 8 days if the carrier does not preserve it. CCTV from nearby Pecos businesses typically overwrites in 30 to 60 days. The truck’s dash camera footage, if equipped, may overwrite in 30 to 90 days. The locomotive’s event recorder data and forward-facing video are controlled by Union Pacific and can be overwritten on the railroad’s own retention schedule. A preservation letter — sent to every evidence holder — is the only thing that freezes these records before they legally disappear. This is why the day you call counsel is the day the clock starts working for you.
Were hazardous materials released in the Pecos derailment?
No hazardous materials were released, according to officials. The train was carrying lithium-ion batteries and air bags as hazardous materials cargo, but none were breached. Leaked diesel fuel was contained. However, proximity to derailed hazardous materials — particularly lithium-ion batteries, which can experience thermal runaway hours or days after mechanical damage — raises exposure monitoring concerns for first responders, building occupants, and anyone who was in close proximity to the derailed cargo. If you were exposed, inform your physician and document any respiratory, dermatological, or neurological symptoms.
How much is a FELA wrongful death case worth?
The value of a FELA wrongful death claim depends on the decedent’s age, earnings, dependents, years of remaining service, and the degree of railroad negligence established. Railroad engineers and conductors typically earn substantial wages with robust benefits and union-protected seniority. The present value of lost future earnings — calculated by a forensic economist — plus loss of consortium, pre-impact terror, conscious pain and suffering, and funeral expenses can place each claim in the $2 million to $8 million range or higher. There is no statutory cap on FELA damages. The total case value across all claims in this incident — two FELA death claims plus three injury claims — could range from approximately $5 million to $25 million or more, gated on the investigation’s findings, the motor carrier’s identification, and fault allocation. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
What should I not say to the railroad’s insurance company?
Nothing without counsel. Do not give a recorded statement. Do not sign a medical or wage authorization. Do not accept an advance payment or benefit election. Do not sign a release. Do not speculate about what happened. Do not minimize your injuries. Do not say “I’m feeling okay.” Under FELA, any contract, rule, or device designed to exempt the railroad from liability is void by federal law — but fighting a release you already signed is a battle you do not want to fight. The safest position is to let counsel handle all communication with the railroad’s claim agents and the trucking company’s insurers.
Can I sue if I was injured inside the Chamber of Commerce building?
Yes. If you were inside the building when the derailed train struck it and you were injured — by debris, by structural impact, by the force of the collision — you have a negligence claim against whoever caused the collision and derailment. That includes the tractor-trailer operator and its motor carrier for causing the crossing collision, and potentially Union Pacific if train speed, signal maintenance, or crossing design contributed to the derailment. The building damage was described as “significant enough” that officials advised against entry until a structural engineer could inspect it — which means the forces inside the building were substantial. Texas’s two-year statute of limitations applies to bystander injury claims. Contact us for a free evaluation of your claim.
Why Attorney911
Ralph Manginello has spent 27 years in courtrooms, including federal court. He is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Bar Association. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer — which means he knows how to find the story the evidence tells, and he knows how to tell it to a jury. Ralph’s background is the work of a competitor who hates losing.
Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue people exactly like the families reading this page. He sat in the strategy sessions. He knows how the reserve is set in the first 48 hours. He knows how the recorded-statement call is engineered. He knows which IME doctor the insurer picks and why. He knows the delay tactics, the surveillance, the social-media mining. Now he uses that knowledge for injured clients. Lupe’s background is the advantage the other side hopes you never find out about. And he conducts full consultations in Spanish without an interpreter — hablamos Español.
The firm works on contingency. 33.33% before trial, 40% if the case goes to trial. We do not get paid unless we win your case. The consultation is free. And we have 24/7 live staff — not an answering service, but people who can take your call right now and start the clock working for you instead of against you.
The evidence in the Pecos derailment is dying. The scene is being cleaned. The truck’s electronic data is on a clock that expires in days. The railroad’s claim agents are already working. The NTSB is on site, and its findings — while not admissible as conclusions — will shape the factual record for every claim that follows.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. Free consultation. No fee unless we win. The preservation letter goes out the day you call.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. This page is legal information, not legal advice. Contacting the firm is free and confidential.