(The following article by Chad Purcell was published in the January 7 online issue of the Omaha World-Herald.)
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad officials on Monday were trying to determine what caused a freight train to derail Sunday night near Elkhorn’s business district.
Nobody was injured, and none of the businesses near the busy railroad tracks was damaged.
Still, some Main Street business owners said the derailment made their fear of a more tragic accident seem real.
The accident happened shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday and forced seven of the train’s 121 cars off the track.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the train was carrying salt from North Platte, Neb., to Council Bluffs.
Several blue plastic bags had fallen off one of the derailed cars, though none of the salt appeared to have spilled on the ground.
Crews worked Monday morning to repair about 560 feet of damaged track, and Davis estimated the rails would be back in service later Monday afternoon.
The wreck forced workers to close a portion of Main Street and slowed traffic through Elkhorn’s business district Monday.
John Winterfeld, manager at Husker Door Inc., said that if the train had derailed off the other side of the tracks, the cars could have smashed into the company’s storage facilities – which sit about 15 feet from the tracks.
“You’ll feel the buildings shake when the trains go by,” Winterfeld said. “It’s always kind of in the back of your mind. If something did happen, you wouldn’t have a prayer.”
Davis said the train was traveling at 22 miles per hour at the time it derailed, though the maximum speed for trains going through the area is 60 mph.
Robert Barr, co-owner of Buffalo Bob’s Circle B Restaurant, estimated that trains rumble past his cafe every 15 minutes. The building sits at the end of Main Street near the rails.
“People really enjoy sitting here, eating and drinking coffee and watching the trains go by,” Barr said. “But you always do kind of wonder about what could happen.”