WEST GLACIER – A BNSF Railway freight train derailed near West Glacier early Friday morning, disrupting Amtrak’s Empire Builder and freight traffic through northwest Montana.
According to BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas, the freight train was traveling east from Seattle to Chicago when it derailed going onto a sidetrack to meet another train. The train’s four locomotives and the first freight car, carrying apples and frozen meat, all derailed during the accident shortly before 3 a.m. Melonas said no one was injured and the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Melonas said maintenance crews were onsite Friday re-railing the freight car and locomotives. He expected the tracks to be open sometime early Saturday morning. Until then, freight trains were being detoured on Montana Rail Link, through the southern part of the state.
The derailment also disrupted Amtrak’s Empire Builder passenger train between Chicago and Portland and Seattle. Spokesperson Marc Magliari said buses were being used to bring passengers from Whitefish to Shelby on Friday.