(The following article by Jacqueline Seibel and Darryl Enriquez was posted on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website on August 23.)
WAUKESHA, Wisc. — The derailment of a 46-car Wisconsin & Southern train caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage, including an economic loss of $18,500 per hour when the tracks were not usable, state Railroad Commissioner Rodney Kreunen said Wednesday.
The rear axle of one of the locomotives went off the track beginning just west of Grand Ave., he said, causing the problem. When the train cleared Main St., the engineer saw the engine’s rear unit go up another track and the rest followed, he said.
Two engines and eight cars of the train derailed, sending out a loud boom that shook homes near the tracks and attracted the attention of residents. The train was traveling 20 mph, Kreunen said.
Investigators do not know what caused the locomotive to go off the rail, he said, but the derailed cars damaged a power switch and every crossing to Main St. The mishap just south of White Rock Ave. forced the evacuation of several residents in the nearby Phoenix Heights subdivision. They have since returned to their homes.
About 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled but contained, the Fire Department reported. The train was carrying three employees and cargo of grain, paper and plastic. No one was injured, police said.
Drivers can expect delays at railroad street crossings in the city through today because of the backlog of freight traffic created by Tuesday’s train derailment, Kreunen said.
About 30 trains use the Canadian National Railway line per day, Kreunen said, and many were waiting to cross through Waukesha after the 18-hour delay caused by the derailment. Trains began rolling again about 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Still, “People should expect to be held up a little more than normal,” he warned.
The rail route is known as the “Iron Interstate” because it carries goods from the Pacific Ocean ports of Canada to Superior and points as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. At some points the railway is a single track.
“It’s a hell of a mess,” Kreunen said of the freight delays.
Street crossings at Main St. and Arcadian and Hartwell avenues were closed after the derailment but have since reopened, said police Lt. William H. Graham.
Tuesday’s accident is near the site of another spectacular derailment on Sept. 2, 1998, when a semitrailer truck driver ignored the warning lights and his rig collided with a train. No one was hurt, but the derailment blocked a number of intersections in the city for hours.
The damage in the 1998 accident reached $1 million, Kreunen said.