RENTON, Wash. — A Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train collided with the Spirit of Washington dinner train in Renton, Wash., Tuesday morning, according to Seattle television station’s website, King5.com.
Police spokeswoman Penny Bartley said no one was injured and no evacuation was necessary.
The freight train sideswiped the Spirt of Washington’s engines when the freight was being backed by a switching engine at about 10 a.m. The collision derailed the caboose and a hopper car of the freight train.
“We have two overturned cars. The forward car is a hopper car containing caustic soda, which is a hazardous material, however we have that contained at this point. There’s no migration from the scene, haz-mat team has it under control,” said Lt. John Hettick of the Renton Fire Dept.
“The locomotive was actually leaking diesel fuel for awhile. We’ve got about a 120-gallon leak on the tracks. It has been contained and controlled by the hazardous materials team,” said Hettick.
“I saw the Burlington Northern train go by, and I knew our train was going to be hit. But there’s nothing you can do, it was like it was in slow motion,” said Eric Temple, Spirit of Washington president.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas said the track was expected to be cleared and reopened Tuesday night.
Four cars in all derailed as they were being backed at about five miles an hour. Wreckage hit the engine of the parked dinner train, spilling about 100 gallons of diesel fuel.
Officials with The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train said the train was scheduled to run at its regular time at 6:30 Tuesday evening.
The Spirit of Washington takes passengers from Renton, just southeast of Seattle, to north suburban Woodinville.