(The following article by Juli Probasco-Sowers was posted on the Des Moines Register website on October 18.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — A train derailment Sunday afternoon about 18 miles south of Decorah along U.S. Highway 52, spilled approximately 98,000 bushels of corn, according to officials with the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad.
Lynn Anderson, the railroads senior vice president for marketing, said they were working to get the grain salvaged and the cars back on the track Monday.
“We think we will have the tracks repaired by tonight or in the morning,” he said Monday afternoon.
No one was injured in the derailment of 28 of the 93 cars in the train, Anderson said.
“We have not determined the official cause, but we are at the site and getting cars picked up and out of the way, and we will begin rebuilding tracks shortly,” he said.
Anderson said it is a busy time of year for the railroad because of harvest and the movement of grain. “We do have some trains backed up, that’s a busy corridor in that area. Trains run between Mason City and Dubuque,” Anderson said. “We want to get the track opened up as quickly as possible.”
He also said they are salvaging as much grain as possible. Each car holds approximately 3,500 bushels of corn.