(The following story by Cecil Angel appeared on the Detroit Free Press website on August 8.)
DETROIT — An Amtrak engine popped off the track in Detroit this evening causing a two-hour train delay on the Wolverine Line between Chicago and Pontiac, an Amtrak spokesman said.
No one was injured at the time wheels flipped off the track about 5 p.m. in an industrial area near east Clay Street and the I-75 service drive. Railroad workers could be seen around the train which was still upright.
Cliff Cole, an Amtrak spokesman, said the train was able to move to the Detroit station where the passengers were put on a bus and taken to Pontiac.
“The train suffered a delay for over two hours,” Cole said.
At the Amtrak station at 112 W. Baltimore near Woodward Avenue in the New Center area, several people were waiting to pick up family members or friends.
Galileo McDade, 70, of Detroit had been waiting for his wife to arrive from a trip to Chicago.
He said he normally waits for her to call him once she arrives in the city before coming to pick her up but on Friday he decided to come to the station and wait for the train which was to arrive at 6:45 p.m. He’d been waiting for more than an hour.
“No big deal,” he said. “I’d rather be late and everybody safe.”