12 BURLINGTON NORTHERN CARS DERAIL NORTH OF CAPE ROCK PARK

Twelve cars of a Burlington Northern freight train derailed early Sunday, just north of Cape Rock Park.

The accident occurred around 2 a.m. None of the cars overturned and the train's three crew members weren't injured, said Wade Calvert, the manager of the railroad company's St. Louis terminal.

Calvert was one of about 25 railroad employees called to the scene Sunday. Crews, using heavy equipment, spent the day putting the derailed cars back on the rails and repairing the damaged track just east of Cape Rock Drive.

Authorities closed the road, where it veers off from Cape Rock Park.

Late Sunday afternoon, crews were still hard at work repairing the track, and the cause of the accident was still under investigation. Repairs were expected to continue into the night, with the track expected to be back in operation by 7 this morning, Burlington Northern officials said.

The derailment involved seven cars loaded with scrap metal and five empty cars. The cars that derailed were about 12 cars back from the front of the train.

Calvert said the derailment tilted one of the cars. "Everything else was upright."

The 75-car train, pulled by four diesel engines, was en route from St. Louis to Hickman, Ark., when the cars derailed. The scrap metal was bound for a steel mill at Blytheville, Ark., Calvert said.