(The Associated Press circulated the following on July 7.)
FORSYTH, Mont. — Near Forsyth, crews are working to rebuild a train track after a coal train derailed early Monday morning.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe train spilled coal into the Yellowstone River.
The Yellowstone River’s high water eroded part of the ground beneath the track, which authorities say caused the train to derail just before 2:00 Monday morning about four miles west of Forsyth.
No one was hurt in the derailment – but crews have a long day of work ahead of them.
There are just bits and pieces of ten very large and heavy train cars that derailed early the bank of Yellowstone River near Forsyth.
Rosebud County’s Department of Emergency Services Coordinator, Carole Raymond, says this isn’t the first train that’s derailed near town.
“Oh, we’ve had some derailment before. You’ve got a train track running through the center of town and you are bound to have problems.” says Raymond.
BNSF Spokesman Gus Melonas says the earth underneath the railroad tracks gave way Monday morning, which derailed ten of the train’s 123 cars.
One of the cars as well as the locomotive was partially submerged in the water and an unknown amount of coal spilled into the river.
“Coal would be more like a filter for the water system and I don’t think that’s going to be a problem what so ever,” says Raymond.
BNSF is working hand in hand with the Department of Environmental Quality to minimize any environmental impact the derailment could have.
Their focus is to contain any fuel that may have been spilled from the locomotive into the water and on the banks.
Raymond says, “Right now everything is looking so good. Yes we what’s called a pusher, the engine on the end of the train, and that is in the river but as far as we know and as far as we can tell, the diesel tanks have not ruptured. They are in the process of draining those right now and if this is the case, and everything goes well, we don’t have any problems at all.”
Monday morning a crew of about 75 began the tedious job of slowing pulling the locomotive and the other cars out of the water piece by piece.
Monday night crews will work well into the night to build a new temporary track on solid ground around the derailment so train traffic can get back to normal.
The train derailment will not affect Amtrak rail passenger traffic and all other freight traffic is being rerouted until the temporary track is finished.
Melonas expects that track to be finished by as early as 2:00 on Tuesday morning
Melonas tells the News Station the derailed train originated in Decker, Montana and was headed to Superior, Wisconsin.
The earth underneath railroad tracks gave way early Monday, derailing several freight cars and spilling an unknown amount of coal into the Yellowstone River.
No injuries were reported, and the coal was not believed to pose a health risk.
It’s unknown if any diesel fuel spilled into the river.
A spokesman for BNSF Railway, Gus Melonas, says ten of the train’s 123 coal cars and its trailing locomotive derailed at about 1:15 Monday morning, four miles west of Forsyth.
One coal car and the locomotive are partially submerged in the river, which runs next to the tracks along Interstate 94.
The railroad has cleanup and construction crews on the scene.
The train originated in Decker and was headed to Superior, Wisconsin.
Melonas says the derailment will not affect Amtrak rail passenger traffic.