(The following report by Dan Springer appeared on the Winona Daily News website on August 23.)
WINONA, Minn. — In times of crisis, it often comes down to neighbors helping neighbors.
That’s what the nation’s rail carriers did when the weekend floods took out tracks and railroad bridges.
The Canadian Pacific Railways and BNSF Railways operate on opposite sides of the Mississippi River between La Crosse, Wis., and St. Paul.
South of La Crosse however, BNSF’s lines continue along the Mississippi River, while Canadian Pacific’s go east toward Chicago.
Both railways had damage: Canadian Pacific lost bridges at Minnesota City and Weaver, Minn., along with tracks, and BNSF had track damage south of La Crosse.
But they teamed up to combine their routes to make sure their deliveries went through.
“Railroads have long done this because it’s a way of returning favors to each other,” said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF. “You never know when you may suffer a washout and want to run as many rails as you can.”
While the cooperative agreement has caused delays up to two days, Forsberg said, rail traffic is still going.
Under the agreement, products are being shipped from Chicago to La Crosse using Canadian Pacific’s lines. Trains then head north on BNSF’s tracks through Wisconsin, Forsberg said.
Canadian Pacific officials still are assessing the damage to their lines in Minnesota. But BNSF was set to begin using one of their two tracks south of La Crosse early today. The second track could be back online Friday, Forsberg said.
In other parts of southeastern Minnesota, DM&E continues to assess damage to its line that parallels roads from Eyota, Minn., to Minnesota City. Meanwhile, IC&E is doing the same for their line that parallels Hwy. 26 south from La Crescent, Minn., to the Iowa border.
Passengers being bused
While the railways have been able to keep products moving, the floods have derailed Amtrak’s service between Chicago and St. Paul.
Amtrak, which uses the Canadian Pacific line, has been busing passengers between Chicago and the Twin Cities since Sunday, said Marc Magliari, a spokesman in Amtrak’s Chicago office.
Amtrak runs two buses — one for customers traveling directly to Chicago and beyond and the other for those with plans to stop in places along the way, such as Winona, Magliari said.
Amtrak will continue through at least today. After that it will be on a day-to-day basis, Magliari said.