MARFA — Marfans awoke early Tuesday morning to a loud pop, which sent many to look to social media for the source. The City of Marfa posted shortly after 7 a.m. that a train had decoupled heading through town, leaving cars blocking all crossings in Marfa except at Golf Course Road to the east.
For a short period of time, crossings at Austin and Highland streets opened up, but then they promptly shut down. Union Pacific dispatched repair crews from El Paso and other locations for a fix, and all crossings were opened shortly after 1 p.m.
As usual when trains block the crossings in Marfa, the city advised travelers to use Golf Course Road, which can be accessed at Highway 90 to the south, or Antelope Hills Road to the north. However, that crossing is steep, humped and not suited for low vehicles. The other option was an underpass off a dirt road heading south from Oak Street or north from behind the Dollar General Store. That route is narrow and rough.
Marfa Police Chief Gilberto Carrillo said city crews added some dirt on the underpass crossing near Dollar General and from Oak Street to try and shore it up and make it more accessible, but that pathway is still very narrow and rough. All semitrucks were rerouted by police, he said.
Carrillo said the cause of the decoupling is still uncertain, as is the number of cars that actually split apart.