(The following story by Betsy Friedrich appeared on the Kearney Hub website on October 19, 2009.)
KEARNEY, Neb. — The cause of a train derailment early Saturday morning west of Overton remains unknown.
According to Tom Lange, a spokesperson for the Union Pacific Railroad, 39 of 136 cars on an eastbound train derailed about 12:13 a.m. Saturday about 3-1/2 miles west of Overton.
Lange said the derailment closed all three rail lines in the area. One re-opened at 5:55 p.m. Saturday. The second re-opened at 9:35 p.m. Saturday and the third line re-opened at 3 a.m. Sunday.
There were no injuries in the accident.
The train was carrying coal from Wyoming to Arbor. Lange said Union Pacific is not sure yet how much coal was lost in the derailment.
“We don’t have that yet. There’s just a lot to figure out, and our first priority was to get the track cleaned up,” he said.
Dawson County Sheriff Gary Reiber said his department assisted the railroad with traffic control. Lange said the crossing at 440th Road was closed for a while.
The investigation into the cause of the derailment continues.