(The following story by Cristina Janney appeared on the Newton Kansan website on January 3.)
WHITEWATER, Kan. — A train derailed Wednesday night north of Whitewater, sending cars containing flammable liquid off the track.
Twelve cars were overturned about 8 p.m. in a field north of the intersection of 110th Street and Butler Road in Butler County.
Seven of the cars were empty, three of the cars were carrying the flammable liquid methanol, one car was carrying an acidic material and one car was carrying plastic pellets, said Mark Davis, Union Pacific spokesman.
He said there were no spills of the materials from the containers.
The accident occurred away from homes in a remote farm field.
The track was cleared by about 4:30 a.m. today, but about 600 feet of track need to be replaced, Davis said.
Repair efforts were under way today, and the track, which carries about 10 trains per day, is expected to be repaired by the end of the day, Davis said.
Jim Schmidt, director of Butler County emergency management, said no one was hurt in the accident and no one had to be evacuated from the area.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Davis said.
The 49-car train was traveling from Houston to Kansas City when the accident occurred.
Schmidt said emergency crews were fortunate the accident was not more serious.
“If it had ignited, we would have had a pretty good fire,” Schmidt said. “Those containers are designed to contain. They are heavy duty.”