(The following story by Dan Voorhis appeared on The Wichita Eagle website on August 22.)
WICHITA, Kan. — The train derailment that tore open a Wichita factory last year wasn’t the railroad’s fault, according to a lawsuit filed over the incident.
Union Pacific Railroad filed suit last week against Grede Foundries, 805 E. Boston, charging that the foundry discharged water, undermining the tracks. The water, discharged either intentionally or negligently, affected the stability of the tracks, according to the suit.
The plant sits only a dozen or so feet from the railroad tracks.
Union Pacific is seeking in excess of $75,000 to cover the cost of repairing the track, the cars damaged in the derailment , and the cost of the delay.
Neither Union Pacific nor Grede could be reached for comment Tuesday.
On July 11, 2006, a 60-car train traveling from Fort Worth to North Platte, Neb., derailed alongside the foundry.
Six cars, five of which were empty, went off the track. No one was injured, but one of the cars punched 30 feet into the Grede Foundries building, stopping about six inches short of hitting the foundry’s electrical transformers.
The plant was shut down for more than a week. Union Pacific has already paid Grede the cost of repairing the plant.
The foundry melts scrap steel into tractor and construction equipment parts.
The plant is one of eight foundries owned by the company, which is based in Milwaukee.