(The following article was posted on the Peoria Journal Star website on January 5.)
GALESBURG, Ill. — More than 300 tons of coal were dumped on the side of a railroad track Wednesday morning after a BNSF train derailed.
BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said the cause of the derailment near Illinois Route 41 and Knox County Highway 26 was unknown, and no one was injured.
Five rail cars came off the tracks but only three actually tipped over, spilling the coal that was on its way to Centralia to be burned for electricity, Forsberg said.
Each car carried more than 100 tons of coal.
The train derailed at 6:30 a.m. In the early afternoon workers were picking up the coal with tractors. Crews pushed the rail cars off the track with large back hoes and earth movers, sending them rolling down the hill a short distance before coming to a stop.
Forsberg said the goal was to open the railroad track as soon as possible. He estimated the work wouldn’t be finished until shortly before midnight Wednesday.