The media is reporting a major derailment on the CP(Soo) at Dresbach, MN (a little N of LaCrosse, WI). 66 cars reported off the tracks with one in the Mississippi River, many are Anhydrous Ammonia cars, one LPG car is leaking.
Just got a breaking news alert from a TV station in Detroit on this. A local fire chief said one train was coming from Portage with 100 cars, the other was coming from La Crescent carrying 15 cars. Crews report more than half of the cars derailed “with some ending up in the river.”
Ross
Any crew injuries on either train?
Yes, it appears that 2 crew were injured, but not seriously - see below.
Fragmentary report, at least 1 photo, and some video from WXOW-TV 19 in La Crosse Crescent at:
http://www.wxow.com/global/story.asp?s=9536477
"DRESBACH, Minnesota (WXOW) - A train derailment sends two people to the hospital this morning with non-life threatening injuries.
It happened near the I-90 Dresbach exit just before 5:30am.
According to Incident commander Bernie Buehler, two trains were involved in the accident.
One train coming from Portage was pulling 100 cars, the other was coming from La Crescent and carrying 15. Out of the 115 train cars, crews could only see 49 that were left standing. Some of the train cars did end up in the river.
The immediate area was evacuated, because of a propane leak.
Officers believe the propane leak was caused at the switching station, because of the derailment.
For safety reasons crews are waiting until later this morning to clean up."
The propane leak may be from the tank(s) that supply the switch heater, not from an LPG car ? If so, lucky it didn’t catch fire ! (or worse)
- Paul North.
The local fire chief I saw quoted said 2 railroad employees were injured; hopefully minor.
Ross
Google Maps has a pretty good quality aerial photo image of the area. At the southeastern end of Dresbach - on the northeast/ river side of I-90/ US 14/ US 61, opposite the S-curve in Veterans Way on the southwest / landward side of the same highway - there appears to be the northwesterly end of a passing siding - 2 tracks merging into one. Further, there appears to be a squarish light-colored relay shed or cabin there, as well as a larger rectangular object which could well be the propane tank for the switch heaters.
- Paul North.
Crew may not be injured; collision at a passing siding:
“2 trains collide in Winona County; cars fall into river”, from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, at
" . . . Two freight trains collided head-on before dawn this morning in extreme southeastern Minnesota, sending some of the 40 or so derailed cars into the Mississippi River, authorities said. . . . Two train crew members were taken to a hospital but only as a precaution, said CP spokesman Mike Lovecchio. “We are not counting them as injuries.” At that spot, Lovecchio said, there is a siding (tracks that act as a passing lane). “How these two trains made contact with each other is obviously part of the investigation,” he said. “We will be doing a comprehensive investigation and cooperating fully with the investigating authorities.” "
- Paul North.
Trains are #487 and the G80 LaCrosse Patrol. #487 is the Portage to DM&E at Winona manifest. The LP is coming from the LPG tank for a switch heater at River Jct. West.
I’m glad I’m not traveling on Amtrak’s westbound Empre Builder today. I’m guessing the eastbound made it past this point before the trouble.
Nope #8 was running late because of a BNSF derailment near Snowdon, MT. As a result #8 and tonight’s #7 will detour over BNSF between St. Croix and Chicago. Likely that both trains tomorrow will be detoured as well. It is reported that one of G80s locomotives is in the river, power for the local was CP 4520 and Soo 4648.
I think I actually took a shot at Dresbach one time some years ago. Glad I wasn’t around there early this A.M…
I’ve heard some varying reports of derailed cars/cars in River from 19-25 to as many as 40 so I’m not sure what to believe either.
Would the Empire Builder be using the BNSF all the way to Chicago? Couldn’t they get back on CP tracks at Grand Crossing in La Crosse? I thought there were some I/C tracks there that would allow that.
There is an interchange track at Grand Crossing in LaCrosse. However, it is not a complete wye. A train coming south on the BNSF could go west on the CP to reach the LaCrosse station, but then the train would be faced the wrong way. Presumably, that situation could be fixed by running the train across the river as (on Virtual Earth) there appears to be a wye at LaCresent MN that could be used to reverse the direction of travel.
Is the territory CTC or Track Warrent/DTC type operation?
Crew is fine. At least one engine is in the river. Speculation I have heard is that one train was pulling out of the siding and the other crew rammed right into their side.
The territory is CTC. River Jct. West is the boundary between the CP River DS and the CP Wisconsin DS.
CP 4520 is right on the edge of the river not really in it. Soo 4648 is alongside the tracks and is a writeoff due to a badly bent frame.
Ahhh Haaaa, I thought I heard #7 on my scanner while I was at Eola at about 4:00 this afternoon and shortly afterwards a strange looking Amtrak train went blasting by westbound with FOUR units up front…I think that may have been #7 on her detour.
Any known freight detours for the CP Rail?
Here’s a view of the area from Live Birdseye - it allows you to rotate and see the track configuration and lay of the land from NSE&W (though due to it’s fairly remote location not all directions are always available as in this case).
I’m basing the location on MSNBC reports of the location.
Hey thanks ! That’s a much sharper & closer image - can definitely see the switch at the end of the siding, the relay cabin, & the propane tank.
Don’t like to admit it, but I wasn’t familiar with this application/ website before this. It seems to load pretty quick, and the resolution is really good (tree68, take note of that !) I’ll have to go play with it some. Thanks again !
- Paul North.
P.S. - Got to thinking about this a little further - probably going to be a nice Christmas paycheck for the Hulcher and other clean-up guys on this one with all the overtime, don’t you think ?
Yeah, I find that the combination of Google Street Views and Windows Live Maps “Birdseye” data can be handy for modeling. Both allow you to get a 360° view of the subject. With the Street Views you’re limited to what can be seen from the street (where anyone can go legally), but Birdseye lets you examine areas that would require trespassing to see otherwise so I tend to favor it.
Another neat thing about the Birdseye imagry is the independent “Birdseye Tourist” website that allows the community to flag “interesting things” they find in the images so others may enjoy them. Here’s a link to the “Trains” section of their site.