(The following appeared on the Toledo Blade website on February 18, 2010.)
BUTLER, Ind. — Amtrak passengers headed from Toledo to Chicago Thursday morning ended up riding buses after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed west of here.
Nobody was hurt and no hazardous materials were released when cars near the rear of an eastbound train hauling freight containers jumped the tracks at about 6 a.m., but the accident blocked both tracks of Norfolk Southern’s Toledo-Chicago main line for the entire morning.
Amtrak summoned buses to take passengers on its Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited trains from Bryan, Ohio to their Indiana or Illinois destinations, while the trains themselves were sent empty via a detour route later in the day.
Norfolk Southern reopened one of the two tracks by early afternoon, and Amtrak expected to run its regular train service between Chicago and Toledo Thursday night and Friday morning, albeit with likely delays near the accident scene.
Dozens of freight trains on the busy Toledo-Chicago route also were affected.