(The following article by Diane Brooks was posted on the Seattle Times website on November 21.)
EVERETT, Wash. — Amtrak and Sound Transit trains are expected to resume normal service today after the tracks along the Everett waterfront were damaged when 10 freight-train cars derailed early Monday.
Two sets of main-line tracks were damaged about one mile southwest of the Port of Everett when the train was switching tracks, disrupting service between Canada and Seattle.
BNSF Railway officials expected one set of tracks would be repaired by early this morning and the other set later today.
While the cause remains under investigation, BNSF concluded the 1:55 a.m. derailment of 10 cars happened as they passed over a switch, where the train shifted from one set of tracks to the other, said railway spokesman Gus Melonas. Four engines and the first 18 cars successfully switched before the 19th car jumped the tracks, he said. The train was traveling at 19 mph; the speed limit is 25 mph.
The 89-car train was carrying lumber, veneer board, particle board and wood pulp. One closed container car partially toppled over an embankment, coming to rest with one end buried in the shallows of Possession Sound. A flat car tipped onto its side, spilling wood along the track’s edge.
A 40-member BNSF crew was scheduled to work overnight to cut out the damaged track and replace it, with one line projected to open at 1 a.m. and the second to return to service later today.
Curious residents of neighborhoods lining the Everett bluff walked to Howarth Park, just south of the derailment, to watch the all-day project to free up the rails for repair. Nine cars, some upright but off the tracks, remained at the site for hours. The 10th simply had lost a wheel, Melonas said.
A pedestrian bridge across the tracks, to reach the popular beach, provided a perfect view.
Michelle Hartley brought her 2-year-old son, Kyle, down to see.
“See? See that train that went boom in the water? I bet that made a big splash,” she said, pointing at the jackknifed train in the near distance.
“It’s broken,” he answered.
The derailment forced Amtrak to use buses to transport passengers on four routes between Seattle and Bellingham and Vancouver, B.C., said spokeswoman Liz O’Donoghue. Long-distance passengers ticketed to Chicago on the Empire Builder were bused Monday afternoon from Seattle to Everett, where the eastbound train awaited them. The westbound Empire Builder wasn’t affected, because it wasn’t due in Seattle until today, she said.
Sound Transit canceled its four Sounder commuter trains that usually carry 730 passengers a day between Seattle, Edmonds and Everett, said spokesman Bruce Gray. Two trains run in each direction.
Community Transit, which operates Sound Transit bus routes in Snohomish County, picked up the slack.
In Everett, 129 people who normally ride the train instead boarded special buses that took them to the Seattle train station. An additional 20 passengers opted to board regularly scheduled Sound Transit buses.
In Edmonds, would-be train passengers were directed to a bus stop near the ferry dock, said Tom Pearce, a Community Transit spokesman.
BNSF rerouted some freight trains onto other lines, especially the Columbia River corridor, Melonas said.