This Unsolved Arizona Train Derailment Continues to Haunts People

October 9, 1995, is a date that the residents of Arizona will never forget; the day that a train derailed near Palo Verde, Arizona at the hands of assailants who wanted to bring chaos to those riding an Amtrak train that day.

A little background of the Amtrak train that derailed in Arizona

The Amtrak train that derailed left El Paso, Texas & was heading towards Los Angeles; this is the normal Amtrak train called the Sunset Limited, a nearly 2,000-mile train that leaves from Louisiana to California and cuts through Texas, New Mexico & Arizona.

In the early hours of 1:30 am, the Sunset Limited, carrying 2 locomotives & 12 cars, hit a section of track 70 miles outside of Phoenix, Arizona. 8 of the 12 cars derailed, 4 landing in a dry river bed. In all, 78 people were injured and 1 sleeping car attendant, Mitchell Bates, was killed in the accident.

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This was the 2nd major accident involving Sunset Limited since the Big Bayou Canot rail disaster that occurred in Mobile, Alabama on September 22, 1993. This derailment was classified as an act of domestic terrorism.

So who derailed the Sunset Limited on October 9, 1995?

We don't know...like seriously. Nearly 30 years later & there's still no clue as to who would've done it. The FBI put out stories for the public to relearn about the disaster in 2020 but as of right now, there's still no clear suspect on who would've done it. The only clue that ATF & FBI agents found were notes that were signed by the "Sons of the Gestapo" that were found along the rails. These notes were made as a retaliation for the Waco Siege that happened 2 years earlier in 1993.

The disaster was even featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries back in 1996, in hopes that someone would have information regarding who did it.

Because the accident happened in such a remote area, there's very little to go on & investigators don't have many leads. The FBI is still offering a reward of $310,000 for ANYONE who might have some insight or information that could've led to this derailment. To this day, it remains a widely remembered & talked about disaster in Amtrak/ United States history. And the culprit remains a mystery...

If you want to hear about more historic train disasters, you can read about the Texas train that managed to destroy a boat while it was on the water here.