25 train cars derail in Idaho, spilling grain

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train loaded with grain has derailed in a remote canyon in Idaho, about 18 miles east of Bonners Ferry.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas says 24 cars derailed Sunday afternoon as the train with four locomotives and 97 loads of grain headed from Castle Point, near Glasgow, to Kalama, Wash., at about 18 mph.

This morning two of the cars had been rerailed. The other 22 are going to be shoved off on the side of the track to allow traffic to resume and will be removed over the next three weeks.

Melonas said that crews would be working throughout the night to get the rails back in service by 9:30 a. m. Tuesday.

BNSF is already positioning trains across the Hi-Line to resume service as soon as possible.

He said crews will work with vac trucks to remove spilled grain so that animals are not drawn to the tracks.

BNSF has not yet determined what caused the accident.

No injuries were reported, with no hazardous materials aboard to speak of.

Melonas said BNSF and Amtrak trains use the route. He said some traffic will be redirected through the Montana Rail Link, the more southern line in Montana.

Marc Magliari, Amtrak spokesman, said that there are currently buses running the obstructed route from

Spokane to Whitefish. The derailment should not affect trains leaving from Chicago today, which would pass through the area after BNSF's estimated resuming of service Tuesday morning.