(The following story by Doug Moore appeared on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website on April 18, 2009.)
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — An Amtrak train pulling out of St. Louis tonight didn’t get far before the wheels of a coach car derailed.
The train carrying 99 passengers pulled away from the downtown St. Louis station about 8:10 p.m. It was headed south when the accident happened near Grand Boulevard. The train was traveling about 9 mph.
There were no injuries but the derailment was expected to delay the trip by as much as four hours. Just after midnight, a crew was still working to get the train on its way.
The plan is to remove the derailed coach and the two coach cars behind it, then move all the passengers into the remaining cars.
“There are plenty of seats available,” said Amtrak spokesman Karina Romero.
Train 21, the Texas Eagle, was traveling from Chicago, with a final destination in San Antonio. The train includes one locomotive, seven passenger cars and a crew of seven.