(The following article by Becky Shay was posted on the Billings Gazette website on November 27.)
LAUREL, Mont. — A train derailed early Saturday and spilled tons of corn across East Main Street. By mid-morning, crews had cleared the road, which was blocked by equipment taking corn out of the right of way and wrecked railcars.
The spill was in front of the Laurel Ridge Motel and closed about four blocks of East Main Street.
A dispatcher at the Laurel Police Department said the derailment was reported at 3:22 a.m. The stretch of road where the derailment occurred was closed Saturday.
Three BNSF train cars lay on their sides between the rails and road. Two cars remained standing, but their steel sides were torn and twisted. The train apparently came off the northern-most Montana RailLink line of the Laurel Rail Yard. Trains continued to move on the rails adjacent to the derailment.
Three crews used huge vacuums with hoses that sucked up the spilled corn and spewed it into dump trucks.
A heavy-duty crane arrived about 4 p.m. and was starting to lift the cars away. Crews hoped to have the tracks reopened by 7 a.m. today.
Lynda Frost, a spokeswoman for MRL, said the derailed cars were close to the middle of the 103-car westbound train.
The cause of the derailment was not known Saturday.
“They have been up to their ears in trying to get it cleaned up,” Frost said of cleanup crews.