(The Associated Press distributed the following article on January 8.)
COLFAX, Calif. — A conductor and engineer were slightly injured when they were trapped briefly after a train derailed near Colfax yesterday, the Washington State Patrol reported.
The men were trapped in one of two engines that tumbled about 100 feet down an embankment of the south fork of the Palouse River about 2:30 p.m., Trooper Brad Hudson said.
They were pulled from the wreckage and taken to Whitman Hospital & Medical Center in Colfax, where they were treated for minor bruises and released. Colfax is about 55 miles south of Spokane in Whitman County.
About nine cars carrying coal also left the tracks, and three of them tipped over, spilling their contents along the river, said Jani Gilbert of the state Department of Ecology in Spokane.
A “minimal amount” of diesel fuel also spilled, said Brad Smith, general manager of the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad.