(The La Crosse Tribune posted the following article on its website on August 24.)
LA CROSSE, Wisc. — A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train engine and two cars were damaged after derailing in what a rail official described as “a fender bender.”
The train went off the tracks in a railway switching area in La Crosse’s Industrial Park about 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to BNSF spokes-man Steve Forsberg.
No one was injured, he said.
Forsberg said at least one of the tanker cars was carrying ammonia fertilizer, which, unlike anhydrous ammonia, is not a hazardous substance.
“We’re still not sure what the cause was and don’t have a real estimate on what kind of damage there was,” Forsberg said.
In most cases, railway derailments come at very low speeds during switchings, Forsberg said.