\u201cStaff and students were stuck on the other side of the tracks\u00a0and it was right at drop-off, so the domino effect was vast,\u201d said Juan Valdes, assistant\u00a0principal at McClatchy High School.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tSign Up for the Morning Newsletter<\/p>\n
The Abridged morning newsletter lands in your inbox every weekday morning with the latest news from the Sacramento region.<\/p>\n
Valdes said the\u00a0stopped train led classes to be pushed back by about an hour.\u00a0A colleague reached out to him at 7:45 a.m. and said they were stuck on the other side of the train, which Valdes said started moving again around 9 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The assistant principal waited near the crossing to make sure students wouldn\u2019t try to get in between the train cars, which took him off campus for an hour. He said students listened to instructions and remained calm while they waited for the train to clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-2-2-1024x576.png\")
McClatchy High School students wait for more than an hour near a train crossing with a stopped freight train near 21st Street and 4th Avenue the morning of Oct. 1, 2026. (Carolyn Becker)<\/p>\n
Tripling commutes<\/p>\n
Eric Ruth was on his regular route to drop off his son, a sophomore at McClatchy, at about 8:15 a.m. when he noticed the stopped freight train at the intersection of 21st Street and 2nd Avenue.<\/p>\n
He said the train stopped for more than an hour, leaving crossings on Freeport and Broadway boulevards and W and X streets blocked, frustrating many drivers in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruth\u2019s usual 15-minute commute took 45 minutes after he and other drivers re-routed to Franklin Boulevard and Sutterville Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSutterville was a complete mess,\u201d Ruth said. \u201cPeople were doing U-turns in the middle of the road, McClatchy kids were trying to cross over the tracks and were just sitting there not knowing what to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Train](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1000021661-2-1024x576.jpg\")
Drivers wait in their vehicles near the intersection of Freeport Boulevard and 21st Street as a freight train is stopped on the tracks for more than an hour on the morning of Oct. 1, 2026. (Eric Ruth)<\/p>\n
Ruth said he called Union Pacific\u2019s emergency number and left a voicemail about a train blocking an intersection in Sacramento and shared his concerns about the trains\u2019 schedule, which he finds to be inconveniently timed around peak morning and evening commute times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be nice if they could at least run the trains in the middle of the day and not during prime commuting hours when people are trying to get in and out of midtown and downtown,\u201d Ruth said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some residents have called\u00a0for\u00a0Sacramento to raise its\u00a0railroad tracks or put them underground, but both options would\u00a0take a significant amount of money and time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Late for class<\/p>\n
Bella Ochoa, a junior at McClatchy High School, said she and a few other students\u00a0decided to walk around the train to get to school. Several were\u00a0late to class, but\u00a0Ochoa said the school\u00a0excused late arrivals that morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to go all the way around because there was a ton of traffic, it was horrible and I was late for first period,\u201d Ochoa said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0happy they excused everyone because it would\u2019ve been rough if they didn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Winnie Ng, a junior, said the stopped train also delayed her walk to school, and that some students may have passed through it to get to the other side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI went all the way around to (Sacramento) City College, it took a while to get here,\u201d Ng said. \u201cI heard that some people who were behind the train went on top of it or under it to get through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Union Pacific spokesperson Mike Jaixen said the company could not comment specifically on what happened to cause the incident Thursday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a number of variables that can lead to blocked crossings, such as unplanned weather events that cause track blockages\/damage, signal malfunctions, trains operating under reduced speed restrictions or mechanical issues,\u201d Jaixen said in an email Friday.<\/p>\n