(The following article by Sarah Burge was posted on the Press-Enterprise website on May 16.)
HIGHGROVE, Calif. — Three cars of a BNSF Railway train derailed about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Highgrove, prompting an hours-long shutdown of Center Street between Michigan and Iowa avenues.
BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said the cause of the derailment was under investigation but no injuries were reported and there was no hazardous-materials threat.
“It was pretty minor,” she said.
Kent said the rail cars were carrying cottonseed, particleboard and a substance used in the manufacture of paints and plastics. The substance is considered hazardous material, Kent said, but none of it leaked from the rail car.
Kent said the derailment happened on a spur line, so no other rail traffic was affected.
The Riverside County Fire Department responded to the scene.