Burned rail trestle halts Amtrak service

The fire that destroyed a railroad trestle on a key east-west link through Sacramento forced Union Pacific and Amtrak to create a 125-mile detour across northern California on Friday.

The detour will add hours to interstate passenger trips and reroute rail traffic through downtown Sacramento, a move that is expected to clog the state capital with freight trains day and night. Nearly twice as many freight trains as normal are expected to slice through midtown Sacramento each day.

"It's going to be nonstop trains and a lot of congestion," said George Elsmore, railroad operations and safety program manager for the California Public Utilities Commission.

No trains were involved in the blaze that began late Thursday and was fueled by the creosote-soaked trestle. Flames could be seen from more than 50 miles away. Before nightfall, the wall of smoke extended an estimated 2,000 feet into the air.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, and Union Pacific began demolishing a quarter-mile-long stretch of the trestle Friday. The trestle keeps trains elevated above local roads and a wetlands area just north of the American River.

"We still don't know what caused it, but if anybody saw something, we'd like to know," Sacramento Fire Capt. Jim Doucette said.

Amtrak passengers bound for Sacramento from Nevada, and other points east of California, will face three- to four-hour delays because those trains will be detoured to the north before coming back to Sacramento, Elsmore said. The detour will route east-west trains through Marysville, to the north of the capital, or Stockton to the south.

Union Pacific officials said crews will work around the clock to replace the tracks and elevated trestle. They hope to have the section rebuilt in two weeks.

Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said the new trestle will be even stronger _ and more fire-resistant _ than the one that was destroyed.

"We're planning to have concrete pylons and steel," Barnes said. "As bad as this incident was, it did create an opportunity to make it stronger. That structure was 60 years old."