(The following report appeared on the Sioux City Journal website on November 4.)
SHELDON, Iowa — A Union Pacific rail line was expected to reopen late Monday night following cleanup from a derailment.
No one was injured in the derailment of 25 cars that happened at 4:30 a.m. Sunday about a mile north of Sheldon. The train, with 117 cars and two locomotives, was going from St. Paul, Minn., to North Platte, Neb., UP spokesman Mark Davis said.
Twenty of the derailed cars were carrying sand and the other five were hauling soybean oil. Crews worked around-the-clock to clean up the sand and soybean product and repair 450 feet of track that was damaged.
The damaged cars may be lying by the side of the track for several weeks until a contractor is available to scrap the cars at the derailment site, Davis said.
The cause of the derailment is being investigated by UP officials, Davis said. Human error had been ruled out by late Monday.
“The employees that work on the investigation definitely want to find a cause — that helps us in derailment prevention,” Davis said. “They have brought several pieces of metal — both track and rail cars — back to our lab in Omaha.”
The line carries four trains a day, Davis said. Trains were rerouted through Des Moines during clean up.