Cause of train derailment in Butler County still unknown

HILLIARD, Mo. -- The cause of an early Saturday morning train derailment near Hilliard remains under investigation as crews continue removing the empty tankers and other debris.

Union Pacific Railroad's north-south line through Poplar Bluff, Mo., was closed for about 20 hours Saturday following a 26-car derailment after 1 a.m. Saturday on a section of track near the intersection of Route W and Route O.

The train was going from Louisiana to East St. Louis, Ill., when its "front third" derailed, said Mark Davis, Union Pacific's public relations director.

The 26 derailed tankers, he said, were empty and last contained crude oil.

"They had a total of 105 cars in the train -- 103 were empty and two rail cars contained sand," Davis said.

What caused the tankers to derail is still totally under investigation, Davis said.

"I know they'll work on trying to find [the cause] and close out the investigation at quick as they can," Davis. "If they need to do metal tests, that sometimes takes a while."

Metal testing, Davis said, is done in a lab, and it's "where they literally take pieces of metal to test to see why it broke, if it broke."

Crews, according to Davis, replaced 600 feet of track that was damaged as the result of the derailment.

As crews worked to repair the track, Davis said, train traffic, including Amtrak, was rerouted.

The line, he said, was reopened to rail traffic at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Once the line was reopened, "usually, you operate several trains over it at a reduced speed [since] everything's been disturbed [including] the road bed," Davis said. "When the track crew feels it's safe to increase the speed, they'll make that decision."

While the line has been reopened, the work at the derailment site is not over as the tankers, wheels and other debris remain in Jim and Sue Schremp's hay field.

"It usually takes seven to 10 days to get that all picked up," Davis said. "Since it's on private property, we'll be working as quick as we can to get those removed."

At this time, Davis said, it is unknown whether the tankers will be removed intact via truck or cut up on site as the Schremps were told Saturday.

"It just depends on how to safely get them out," Davis said.

The Schremps were concerned that the tankers, although empty, contained residual amounts of oil that could damage the ground.

Environmental response personnel were at the site Saturday to do the necessary cleanup.

Davis said he was sure they will be on site if anybody feels there's any possibility of the tankers leaking.

Pertinent address:

Hilliard, MO