(The following article by Jim Hook was posted on the Chicago Daily Southtown on September 24.)
CHICAGO — Two Canadian National freight trains collided early Thursday in a rail yard in Posen, causing a derailment that temporarily closed two village side streets.
No one was seriously injured in the incident, which happened about 12:30 a.m. in a CN rail yard near 143rd Street, west of Western Avenue, Posen Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Szewczyk said.
One railroad employee was treated for minor injuries at the scene, Szewczyk said.
The two train engines derailed after colliding, and three of the cars from the one train derailed, he said.
Division and 143rd streets in Posen were closed until 9:30 a.m.
Szewczyk said none of the three rail cars that derailed contained any hazardous materials. Two contained sand and the third car was empty.
“Everything checked out OK,” he said.
CN spokesman Jim Kvedaras said one train was hauling lumber and other commodities to Ontario, Canada, on the track’s main line when it struck a second train that was “bringing in rail cars on the yard track.”
“The second train got too close to the train on the main line and they collided,” Kvedaras said.
He said the main railroad lines were expected to be back in service late Thursday night.
Train service was re-routed until the repairs were completed.