WALLER, Texas — No injuries were reported as 23 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Monday afternoon in Waller County between the towns of Waller and Prairie View, the Waller County Sheriff’s Office reported on Monday (Oct. 20, 2025).
The Sheriff’s Office reported the derailment about 6:30 p.m. CT, and said that 17 cars were involved, but Union Pacific updated that figure in a subsequent statement. Images show the derailment overturned carloads of gravel. Business U.S. 290 was reopened late Tuesday morning after a closure between James Muse Parkway on the eastern edge of Prairie View and Farm Road 362 on the western edge of Waller.
Waller is on UP’s Eureka Subdivision, approximately 40 miles northwest of downtown Houston.
— Updated at 7:25 a.m. CT with corrected count for number of derailed cars and reopening of closed highway.
The guy in the above photo pic is not very safety compliant wearing shorts and sneakers. Back in the day (CA1970+), my E-L Rwy telecom safety book even mandated long sleeve shirts which, combined with gauntlet gloves, was protection against wood pole climbing against splinters and creosote burns.
Fortunately it was only gravel…