Train Carrying '05 GTO's crashes!

By ERIN JORDAN

REGISTER STAFF WRITER

April 14, 2005

Blairstown, Ia. - Train traffic on a major coast-to-coast freight line was stopped Wednesday afternoon when a train accident just west of Blairstown derailed 11 cars, injuring one crew member.

The derailment happened about 1:45 p.m. when an eastbound Union Pacific coal train was stopped for traffic near Blairstown and another train hit it from behind, railroad officials said.

Two crew members aboard the freight train traveling from North Platte, Neb., to Chicago suffered minor injuries, said Mark Davis, spokesman for the Union Pacific Railroad. A third crew member was transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids for non-life-threatening injuries, Davis said.

Dozens of new automobiles on the train were damaged as at least four train cars tipped on their sides, said Michael Ferguson, chief deputy for the Benton County Sheriff's Department.

"You didn't order a yellow GTO, did you?" Sheriff Randy Forsyth said. "We saw one of those."

One rail car full of coal was crushed, leaving coal on the rail bed, Ferguson said. Hazardous materials crews and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources were called because of an estimated 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled.

Federal transportation officials were on the scene Wednesday afternoon to investigate, Ferguson said.

Railroad officials quickly brought in bulldozers and other machinery to clean up the scene, which cannot be accessed directly by road. Union Pacific planned to have the derailment cleaned up by midnight or early today, Ferguson said, but track repairs will likely delay traffic today.

Four or five trains an hour usually pass over the busy rails at Blairstown, Forsyth said.

"A lot of commerce goes through here," Ferguson added. "They're backed up clear across the country at this point."

Davis said crews would work through Wednesday night to replace the damage and clean up the mess. He said there are few detour routes in the area, so rail traffic on the freight line will remain backed up until the scene is cleared.

Originally posted by another loser@Apr 16 2005, 09:08 AM

"You didn't order a yellow GTO, did you?" Sheriff Randy Forsyth said. "We saw one of those."

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Ouch..Thats fuked up..I know some people is going to be pissed..I seen one of those the other day in Downtown Oakland..My boy was tellin me them fukers are Super Charged..Nice..

HAHA, I like painting on those kind of cars; especially when you can see the automobiles in them and so the spray paint that goes through the little holes fucks up the new car-paint jobs. Oh life's simple pleasures.

^^^^lol

Originally posted by westy@Apr 26 2005, 08:05 PM

HAHA, I like painting on those kind of cars; especially when you can see the automobiles in them and so the spray paint that goes through the little holes fucks up the new car-paint jobs. Oh life's simple pleasures.

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thats fuckin stupid....

that funny..

lately it seems the cars that are derailed are the ones with pieces on them.

does the paint curse the cars?? LOL