San Bernardino Train Disaster - Aftermath

Aftermath

Attempts to have the pipeline moved immediately after the pipeline failure, from its original route, were unsuccessful.

Many residents received settlements from Southern Pacific and/or Calnev and moved out after this, and houses are no longer allowed to be built next to the rail line (however, homes have begun being built on the crash site — one in 2007 and another in 2009, according to satellite imagery obtained from Google Earth 34°8'14.21"N 117°20'40.40"W). The lots that were destroyed in the derailment sat vacant for many years, leaving a very visible scar, as did lots destroyed by the pipeline rupture.

Southern Pacific also changed its cargo weight procedures, which required that the clerks assume that every freight car on every train was carrying the maximum load it was designed to carry if the submitted paperwork did not indicate a weight. By assuming the maximum weight of the train, that would guarantee that the engineer would assign at least the minimum number of locomotives needed to ensure that the train would have enough braking capacity needed to keep the train under control on steep grades.

Seven years after the accident, Southern Pacific was bought up by Union Pacific, which still runs trains over the rails where the derailment happened.