(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 26.)
COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. — Two freight trains collided east of Columbia Falls Thursday morning, blocking the main rail line and forcing Amtrak to bus Empire Builder passengers 250 miles from Whitefish to Havre.
No one was injured in the “low impact” collision that derailed two cars and spilled some soybeans, a Flathead County dispatcher said.
The derailment blocked traffic on the main line across northern Montana, causing Amtrak to bus passengers between its stations in Whitefish and Havre. Witnesses said freight trains were backed up in the area.
About 110 Amtrak passengers left Whitefish just before 10 a.m. on their way to Havre, said Havre ticket clerk Nancy Peterson. They were expected in at about 3 p.m., as were the 77 passengers on the westbound Empire Builder.
The Whitefish passengers will be put on the eastbound train and the westbound passengers will be taken to Whitefish by bus and get back on the train there.
Peterson said the passenger numbers were light because of the Thanksgiving holiday and travelers shouldn’t experience too much of a delay.
The Empire Builder travels from Seattle to Chicago.
Spokesmen for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway did not immediately return calls seeking comment on when the main line might reopen.