The Region - News from April 8, 1985

Six freight cars of a Southern Pacific Railroad train derailed near downtown Los Angeles, damaging a high-voltage tower and rupturing a natural gas line buried next to the tracks. No injuries occurred in the derailment, which may have been caused by a mechanical malfunction in one of the cars, said Tony Adams, a Southern Pacific Transportation Co. spokesman. The accident occurred midway in the 55-car train and resulted in about $250,000 damage to the train and tracks, Adams said. Police cordoned off the area around the leaking gas line, which was capped six hours after the accident. The high-voltage tower was leaning at a 45-degree angle against one of the cars, but no fire broke out and power was rerouted to another line, authorities said.