(The following story by Pat Shaver appeared on the Ottumwa Courier website on July 30, 2010.)
ALBIA, IA — Residents in Albia woke up to a headache Thursday morning.
At about 4:30 a.m., 20 cars from a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train partially detrained from the tracks, causing three streets in town to be closed.
Crews were able to quickly clear the intersections at North Third and North Eighth streets later Thursday morning, and North D Street was opened back up early in the afternoon.
BNSF crews separated the section of cars that had not derailed and moved them out of the intersections. Most of the cars were open-top hauling cars with nothing in them.
Despite the derailment, the train cars remained upright on the tracks but were slightly tilted, Albia Police Chief Jay Andrews said Thursday afternoon.
“The track is blocked and can’t be used,” he said, adding, however, there were no hazardous materials involved in the derailment and no danger to residents. No injuries were reported either.
Officials said Thursday they aren’t sure when the tracks will be re-opened.
Andrews said the train derailment could have been caused by the railroad tracks slightly separating.
He said although the event wasn’t a major incident, it is still a unique situation in Albia. He can’t remember a train derailment ever happening in Albia, though there have been a few outside the city limits in Monroe County.