(The following story by Dan Piller appeared on the Des Moines Register website on June 14.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Washed-out track and the collapse of two major bridges have brought Iowa’s railroad operations to a virtual halt this week, interrupting shipments of coal, grain, ethanol, building materials and chemicals.
The Union Pacific Railroad reports that both its north-south and east-west lines are out of service.
“We’re pretty much shut down on the main lines,” said UP spokeswoman Donna Kush. “Several small bridges have been washed out and track is covered by water. Fortunately, we haven’t lost any rolling stock.”
UP’s shutdown has implications for national traffic because the east-west line across Iowa is the railroad’s main route from Chicago to the Pacific coast. That line is used not only to haul coal to numerous utilities in the Midwest, South and East, but also is a main route for inbound import traffic from Asia.
Other railroad operations are also experiencing problems with rising waters.
BNSF Railway expects to lose its main east-west line across Iowa when Des Moines River flooding reaches Ottumwa.
The Iowa Interstate Railroad has operated only east of the Mississippi River after waters from the Raccoon River washed out its tracks through West Des Moines earlier in the week.
The Iowa Northern Railroad lost its bridge Wednesday across the Cedar River, cutting the railroad – which runs between Cedar Rapids and Manly in northern Iowa – virtually in half. The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railroad also lost a bridge over the Cedar River on Thursday, despite trying to stabilize the structure with 20 cars loaded with crushed rock.
The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad, which serves northern Iowa, reported washouts between Mason City and Nora Springs and between Charles City and Ossian, and said the lines will remain closed for seven to 14 days.
In terms of shipping volume, the loss of the Omaha-based Union Pacific is the most serious because the carrier is the main hauler of coal to Iowa’s utilities. The carrier also maintains an extensive branch line network through northern Iowa that serves grain elevators.
The railroad announced that its track between Des Moines and Kansas City could be out for as long as a week. Its tracks run near both the Skunk and Des Moines rivers, both of which have flooded. UP’s east-west line has been flooded at Cedar Rapids, Tama and Boone.
BNSF Railway’s line across southern Iowa through Ottumwa and Creston has been hit later than the UP lines to the north, but spokesman Steve Forsberg said expected flooding at Ottumwa would likely take out the line by today.
“We’re just watching the situation closely, but Ottumwa appears to be a problem,” Forsberg said.
The expected blockage at Ottumwa already has caused Amtrak, which runs on the BNSF east-west line, to close its California Zephyr service across Iowa. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the railroad doesn’t expect to resume service until at least Monday.
The Iowa Interstate Railway, which runs east-west on the old Rock Island Line tracks through Des Moines, was blocked as early as last Monday when floodgates were opened on the Raccoon River in West Des Moines, sending water over the carrier’s tracks.
Des Moines also has blocked the railroad’s bridge over the Des Moines River downtown by building earthen berms across both ends as part of the flood wall.
“We’re basically shut down in Iowa and are operating only east of Rock Island, Ill.,” said Mick Burkhardt, Iowa Interstate’s chief transportation officer.