(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 28.)
ESSEX, Mont. — Avalanches crashed into a freight train in northwest Montana on Wednesday, knocking 15 cars off the rails and shutting down the tracks also used by Amtrak.
No one was injured and the derailed grain cars were empty, said Gus Melonas, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesman.
“The slides occurred due to extremely heavy snowfall,” he said. “We’ve had 60 inches of snow in the area.”
The first avalanche knocked seven cars off the track near the southern edge of Glacier National Park, Melonas said. Another slide about 15 minutes later knocked eight more cars off the track.
The 119-car train was en route from Pasco, Wash., to Great Falls.
Amtrak’s Empire Builder passenger train, which uses the same tracks on its route between Chicago and Seattle, was suspended Wednesday afternoon because of the avalanche danger, Melonas said.
Passenger service is stopped at least until Friday, he said, though freight trains could resume Thursday.