No one was injured as a Canadian Pacific train collided with another in Minnesota, U.S. One locomotive and freight cars derailed and plunged into the Mississippi River. Some cars that fell were carrying a Nitrogen fertilizer that is extremely hazardous to an area over time if exposed in great amounts to an environment. Fortunately, the leaking Nitrogen was contained on the scene before reaching the river. For more information on this derailment, here's a link/video.
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http://wcco.com/local/train.derailment. ... 89273.html
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2 Trains Crash, Cars Plunge Into Mississippi RiverDRESBACH,Josh
Minn. (AP) ― Two Canadian-Pacific freight trains collided in southeastern Minnesota early Wednesday, derailing 40 cars.
CBS
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Two freight trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. collided in southeastern Minnesota early Wednesday, derailing 26 cars and plunging a locomotive into the Mississippi River, authorities said. No one was seriously hurt.
The cause of the collision remained under investigation, said Mike LoVecchio, a spokesman for Canadian Pacific in Calgary, Alberta.
"An event like this is extremely rare, where you have had two trains come together," he said. "We take this matter extremely seriously. We will be conducting a thorough investigation."
About 25 disabled veterans at Mosher Veterans Rest Home near Dresbach were evacuated for several hours as a precaution but returned home by late afternoon, said Joyce Tlougan, deputy director of Winona County Emergency Management.
One locomotive was partially submerged in the river, but the other derailed cars remained on land, Tlougan said. A second engine leaked diesel fuel, but the fluid was contained on land, she said.
There was no evidence the locomotive in the river was leaking, she said.
One rail car struck a 1,000-gallon propane tank attached to a switching station, causing a small leak that was stopped by 1 p.m., LoVecchio said. The leak prompted the veterans home evacuation.
The crash involved a freight train with three locomotives, three loaded cars and 90 empty cars, and a shorter train called a "yard switcher" with two locomotives and 15 cars loaded with fertilizer, LoVecchio said.
Thirteen cars from each train derailed.
Three cars were leaking liquid nitrogen, a farm fertilizer, but the material was contained around the cars and none was reaching the river, he said.
LoVecchio said crews were working through the night on the cleanup, but it wasn't known when the line would reopen to traffic. Trains were able to detour over sister railways, he said.
"Our priority is to get it cleaned up and restore the track. We'll take some time and do it right," he said."
Four workers operated the two trains. Two were taken to a hospital as a precaution but all four were "safe and accounted for," LoVecchio said.
The Federal Railroad Administration sent three inspectors to the derailment, launching a probe that may take several months to complete, spokesman Rob Kulat said in a statement from Washington, D.C. The agency investigates about 100 railroad accidents a year.
The crash happened about 5:30 a.m. near the Interstate 90 exit at Dresbach, which was to remain closed through the night, LaCrescent Fire Chief Bernie Buehler said. The mostly rural area includes the Mississippi River bluffs, with the rails running alongside the river.
The route is one of Canadian Pacific's main freight lines, used to haul everything from televisions and automotive parts to lumber, grain and agricultural supplies, LoVecchio said.
Buehler said the longer train was heading west from Portage, Wis., and the shorter train was traveling east from La Crescent to La Crosse, Wis.
The trains went toward each other on single tracks, although it's not clear why.
LoVecchio said the line includes a "siding where one train would pass another," but he did not know what role, if any, that may have played in the crash.
The derailment disrupted Amtrak service to hundreds of passengers, said Bob Kamrowski, station manager in La Crosse.
People planning to board Amtrak trains Wednesday in Red Wing and Winona in Minnesota and La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, and Columbus in Wisconsin were bused to either Chicago or Minneapolis, he said.
Amtrak makes two trips per day on the Empire Builder route blocked by the derailment. The route links Chicago and the West Coast cities of Seattle and Portland.
"They are telling me one day (of disruption)," Kamrowski said. "I have no idea if that is going to be the truth or not."
