(The following story by Foss Farrar appeared on the Arkansas City Traveler website on June 16, 2010.)
Arkansas — The Union Pacific has shut down trains on a line that traverses a bridge over the Chikaskia River, northeast of Caldwell, after a train with a car carrying anhydrous ammonia stalled on the sagging bridge Tuesday.
“There were no injuries, no diesel spillage, no haz-mat,” said Chris Ball, Sumner County’s assistant director for emergency management. “They have shut the trains down.”
Sumner County Sheriff’s officers barricaded roads leading to the bridge, Ball said today.
A Union Pacific spokesman could not be reached for comment this morning.
A UP engineer noticed problems Tuesday morning, after two front engines and two of the train’s 66 cars already were on the bridge over the Chikaskia River, according to the Associated Press.