DERAILMENT HURTS 2, SPILLS CEMENT.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick and Orith Goldberg Staff Writers

Two railroad crewmen were injured when a freight train derailed south of Mojave, spilling hundreds of tons of cement.

Four locomotives and 34 cars left the tracks about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday three miles south of Mojave in a sparsely populated area near Silver Queen Mine Road.

``The lead locomotive actually turned over. That was where the two Union Pacific crew members were injured,'' Kern County Fire Department Capt. Doug Johnston said.

Conductor J.B. Wright suffered a broken collarbone and engineer David Bunting his knee, officials said. They were treated at Antelope Valley Hospital and sent home.

The engineers were in the first locomotive, which flipped. The other three locomotives also went off the track, but remained upright, Johnston said.

The Long Beach-bound train had been southbound from Trona, a mining town between Death Valley and China Lake Naval Weapons Center. While fire officials estimated about 24 cars had derailed, Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said the derailment involved 34 cars, each carrying about 50 tons of cement.

``It's a pretty good sized mess,'' Johnston said.

News crews were kept away from the wreck for about three hours while authorities checked for hazardous materials. Twenty-one freight cars were listed as carrying hazardous materials, but all were at the rear of the 80-car train and stayed on the tracks, Johnston said, adding that most of those cars were empty. The hazardous materials that were carried on the train are used in the production of cement, including sulfuric acid, boric acid and pot ash, Johnston said.

There was no word on what caused the derailment, Furtney said.

Railroad crews were at work Thursday cleaning up the spilled cement and repairing the torn-up track. Furtney said the track is expected to reopen today.

Furtney said the track closure wasn't expected to hinder rail traffic. The track is primarily used by Union Pacific; however, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe also use the route.

Freight traffic was light Thursday and trains can be routed around the closed segment, Furtney said.

The Federal Railroad Administration and the California Public Utilities Commission are expected to conduct an investigation into the derailment, Furtney said.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color in AV edition only) Four locomotives and 34 cars left the tracks in the derailment south of Mojave. The lead locomotive turned over.

(2 -- color in AV edition only) The cause of the derailment was under investigation Thursday.

(3 -- ran in AV edition only) Crews work in the aftermath of Wednesday night's train derailment.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

Map:

(ran in Valley edition only) Union Pacific train derailed