Aerial photo courtesy of the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office.
(Alton) — An Union Pacific train has derailed near Alton. The incident happened at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning. According to officials, a bridge had collapsed due to the recent flooding. Officials say most of the cars were hopper cars, although there were some tanker cars that were a part of that train. This marks the second train to derail in northwest Iowa in recent months. In June, near Doon, Iowa, a Burlington-Northern Train had more than 30 tanker cars that had derailed, spilling several hundred thousands of crude oil into the Rock River. KLEM news visited with Alton Fire Chief Quintin Van Es about the derailment. Van Es says approximately 30 rail cars had derailed and plunged into the Floyd River as a result of the rail bridge collapsing. Van Es says there were no injuries, although most of the rail cars were hauling sand. He says there was one tanker car, but it was filled with soybean oil, and should not present a danger to the environment. Van Es says this train derailment is not as serious to the public’s interest as the Burlington Northern Sante Fe train derailment that happened in June, because there isn’t any cargo that could be deter mental to the environment. Union Pacific officials are arriving at the scene to pull the rail cars out of the Floyd River. It is unknown how long it will take to clean up the derailed train, and it is unknown as to how long it will take to replace the rail bridge that collapsed.
