(The Associated Press distributed the following article by David Lee on October 18.)
EAST GLACIER. Mont. — High winds blew a freight train off the tracks and down into the Midvale Creek ravine here early Friday morning, shutting down the main rail line between Chicago and the Pacific Coast until late afternoon. No injuries or major spills were reported.
“It was horrifying,” said Marlene Bear Walter, who lives on Glacier Avenue (U.S. Highway 2) just across from the Midvale Creek trestle. “I heard this awful crash and looked out my window…I saw all these sparks flying in the darkness.”
Gus Melonas, spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, said wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour blew 25 cars off the trestle at about 4:30 a.m.
The cars were hauling 60 double-stacked steel containers, all of which were empty except one containing auto parts. Eleven cars ended up in the ravine and five empty containers landed in the creek.
“This area is unique to the BNSF system,” Melonas said. “Wind funnels down ravines like this one, causing extreme wind gusts.”
There have been three such derailments near East Glacier in the past 10 years, but “this one has involved the most cars that I can recall,” the BNSF spokesman said.
Glacier County Sheriff Gary Racine said strong winds in the area also knocked down trees and power lines and caused scattered power outages in parts of Cut Bank and surrounding areas.
“It was really whipping this morning,” he said. “To knock over train cars, you know it has to be howling.”
Henry Butterfly with the Blackfeet Environmental Department said his division had discovered a small leak of fluid beside the tracks just west of the Midvale Creek ravine. Some of the containers included refrigeration units with their own diesel generators, said Browning environmental consultant Tony Bynum.
The freight train was westbound from Chicago, Ill., to Pasco, Wash., Melonas said. The train consisted of 2 engines and 75 cars. It was travelling at approximately 28 miles per hour at the time of the accident, he added. No estimated cost of the damage was available at press time.
“We will begin removing the containers from the ravine this weekend,” said Melonas, “and we expect to be finished with cleanup operations in about a week.”
The Eastbound Amtrak train to Chicago was delayed in Whitefish Friday for about six hours, said Melody Salter, Amtrak ticket clerk in Shelby. There were about 250 passengers on the train.