(The Associated Press circulated the following article on December 20.)
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailed Sunday morning in St. Cloud, injuring no one but tying up intersections through much of the city’s east side.
St. Cloud Assistant Fire Chief Leon Faust said the train derailed about 4:50 a.m. The cause of the derailment was not immediately known, although Faust said investigators were looking at the cold weather’s effect on the tracks as a possibility.
Faust said 11 cars in the middle of the mile-long train jackknifed or fell off the tracks. Some of the train’s cars were carrying hazardous materials, Faust said, but all those cars remained upright.
Two people, a conductor and an engineer, were at the front of the train but were not injured. Faust said the derailment occurred in a mostly industrial area of the city.
The train was long enough, he said, to tie up a long stretch of intersections for several hours. He said most intersections were open again by 11 a.m.
The derailment blocked passage of an Amtrak passenger train. Passengers were bused to Milwaukee to catch another train.