Train derails in Lincoln County

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

train hauling wheat derailed on Tuesday afternoon in eastern

Lincoln County.

Gus Melonas, BNSF Railway spokesman,

said 17 cars left the tracks just south of the area known as South

Portal, located in the Rock Creek/Wolf Creek vicinity.

No injuries were reported. The cause of

the accident is under investigation. Melonas said there was no

environmental threat.

The derailment was called in to the

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 2:40 p.m.

The train was headed from Moore to

Kalama, Wash.

A side track around the main line

opened at around 7 a.m. Wednesday, Melonas said.

Melonas said five of the 17 cars that

derailed were salvaged and placed back on the tracks overnight

Tuesday. The other 12 cars were shoved aside to enable crews to

make track repairs. Melonas said they would be scrapped on site

with the material removed within the next two to three weeks.

The wheat will be vacuumed and shipped

also within the next two to three weeks.

Melonas expected the main line to be

repaired Wednesday or Thursday. Some traffic from the busy Montana

route had to be re-routed on a southern line.