(The following report appeared on the Daily Inter Lake website on January 30.)
KALISPELL, Mont. — Railroad crews on Thursday cleared and reopened tracks near Essex that were blocked since Wednesday when two avalanches hit a freight train and derailed 15 cars. But U.S. 2 between Essex and East Glacier remained closed on Thursday.
U.S. 2 ? the main east-west highway across northern Montana ? was closed on Tuesday, reopened for two hours Wednesday and then was shut down again Wednesday afternoon.
An avalanche assessment Thursday afternoon prompted the Montana Department of Transportation to keep the highway closed at least until this morning. Highway officials will reassess the situation today to decide whether to reopen the roadway.
Only the stretch between Essex and East Glacier is closed to traffic.
Meanwhile, avalanche danger delayed track-clearing work following a Wednesday train derailment 6 miles east of Essex.
The 119-car freight train was hit by two separate avalanches on Wednesday, knocking 15 cars off the tracks.
Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway, said the tracks were reopened to freight trains at about 4 p.m. Thursday.
Amtrak?s Empire Builder, which also uses the track, is not expected to begin running again along the route until at least Friday, Melonas said.
Avalanche danger in the area continues to be high — and upcoming weather may not help much.
“There’s a continued and rising avalanche hazard with this next storm system,” said Blase Reardon, a U.S. Geological Survey avalanche expert. “It’s expected to bring increased wind and temperatures, and more new snow. I want to stress that rapid warming is the problem, not slow, steady warming.”
It snowed all day Thursday in Essex at the Izaak Walton Inn, according to general manager Ray Dominick.
“It’s been wet snow and it actually more or less sunk in to what’s there,” Dominick said.
What’s there is about 4 feet of snow that has fallen at Essex this week.
That total may grow as the Essex area continues to get pounded with snow. The National Weather Service predicted that another 6-10 inches of snow would fall overnight in the Essex-West Glacier area.