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 The conductor described the trip from Mobile to the accident site as uneventful. He said the locomotive crew called all signal indications over the radio, and he repeated them over his portable radio. According to the assistant conductor, he last talked with the locomotive crew before the accident when the engineer called to thank him for bringing coffee at Mobile. The assistant conductor last remembered the locomotive crew calling the signal at Bayou Sara, mile post (MP) 658.4; the call was "clear" and the conductor repeated it to them shortly before the derailment. The train accelerated toward the Big Bayou Canot bridge and, traveling about 72 mph (authorized speed was 70 mph), struck the displaced bridge girder and derailed at MP 656.7 about 2:53 am. (see figure 5).

Figure 5.—Ph0tograph of accident site.

Following the derailment, the three locomotive units came to rest on the east side of the bayou. Part of the lead unit, 819, was buried in about 46 feet of mud, and the part protruding above the embankment burned. The second unit, 262, also burned. The fuel tank of the third unit, 312, separated from it, and all equipment along the bottom of the unit below the frame was sheared off. 7