(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 27, 2009.)
NORA SPRINGS, Iowa — Packed snow gets part of the blame for bringing a freight train to a stop in northern Iowa.
The 70-car Iowa Northern Railway ran into trouble last Friday near Nora Springs during a ground blizzard.
According to the National Weather Service, winds were as high as 45 mph, causing the snow to drift.
Railway spokesman Mark Sabin says the train, which had five locomotives, had plenty of power to plow through the drifts. But the packed snow caused an air hose between two locomotives to become disconnected, causing the train to stop.
Sabin says a loader was brought in to push the snow away from the train, while 20 people helped out with shoveling.
The train finally got on its way on Sunday.