(The following article by Dustin Lemmon was posted on the Quad City Times website on January 6.)
DAVENPORT, Iowa — Four train cars that derailed this morning north of the Government Bridge on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River likely won’t be moved until sometime Friday.
Sgt. Dave Turner of the Davenport police said that railroad officials were sending equipment from Galesburg. Ill., to remove the cars, but it would likely take 24 to 48 hours to get the cars moved.
The accident happened at 7:20 a.m. today. Government Bridge traffic is being rerouted slightly, but the span between Davenport and Arsenal Island remains open. Turner said LeClaire Street just north of the bridge was closed, but the entrance to the Howard Johnson hotel at the foot of the Government Bridge is open.
Two boxcars, a flatbed carrying freight containers and an empty tanker that had last carried corn syrup went off the east side of the tracks and slid down a hill a distance of several yards before coming to a stop against some trees. The rest of the train, including the engine, did not derail.
Nothing significant spilled from the rail cars and no injuries were reported.
Representatives of Iowa Interstate Railroad were on the scene with police.
Turner said the location of the derailment made it a minor inconvenience.
“We could have had to shut down some real major streets” if the derailment happened farther up the line, he said. “It’s not bad where it’s at.”