(The Peoria Journal Star posted the following article on its website on November 25.)
DUNLAP, Ill. — Railroad officials don’t yet know what caused 30 train cars filled with coal to derail near Dunlap on Sunday.
Union Pacific Railroad spokesperson John Bromley said on Monday that they are still investigating the wreckage but planned to have the rails open by 6 p.m. today.
The 118-car train was hauling coal to Midwest Generation’s Powerton electric plant south of Pekin when it derailed about 2 p.m.
No one was injured when the train cars came off the track.
This is the third time a Union Pacific train has had a problem near Dunlap in just over two years.
Last month, a train carrying coal nearly derailed when an axle fell off the last train car. The car did not come off the track, but the train was delayed and the railroad crossing at Alta Road was damaged.
In August 2001, a broken rail was blamed for a derailment causing $1 million damage when a train went off the tracks near Cedar Hills Drive. The 19 cars that derailed were hauling General Motors automobiles.
Bromley said they have no damage estimate for the current accident.