BNSF Railroad 22 Car Derailment in Alexandria, MO

March 30th, 2010 |

ALEXANDRIA, MO – Freight cars from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway BNSF derailed in Alexandria, Missouri on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at about 2:30 pm. The railway cars were carrying coal from Wyoming and were heading to the St. Louis area. The derailment involved 22 out of the 135 cars on the train that included 3 engines. Fourteen railway cars were mangled in the derailment.

22 cars involved in Alexandria, MO train derailment. Photo credit: Steve Bohnstedt/Herald-Whig

According to Steve Forsberg, a spokesman from the BNSF Railway, the cause of the derailment has not been determined. Forsberg is the general director of public affairs for BNSF.

U.S. Highway 61 was closed for about four hours after the train accident, which shut off access to Alexandria on Saturday. Basically all 5 entrances to the community were blocked so no one was able to get in or out of town.

Fourteen mangled railroad cars in the Alexandria, MO BSNF train derailment

Repair crews worked quickly to repair the tracks. About a hundred men were brought in with heavy equipment. Traffic resumed later Saturday evening. The tracks were reopened around 10 pm, Sunday.

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Forsberg said that the coal that spilled from the 22 rail cars was disposed of rather than be put back into the cars. According to Forsberg, the 36th through the 57th cars were involved in the derailment.

The train was only carrying coal and there were No hazardous materials involved in the accident. No railroad employee injuries were reported.

Alexandria Mayor Bob Davis said that there have been other derailments over the years in this area. There was seep water on both sides of the track at the site of this derailment. “These tracks have been bad for a long time,” Davis pointed out. He recalled two earlier derailments in the 1970s by the Des Moines River bridge and another one in about 1979. On that occasion there was a coal train wreck down below town.

Location of 22-car train derailment in Alexandria, MO that blocked all 5 entrances to the community.

Mayor Davis did say that for the last month or two crews had been working on the tracks in Alexandria, including a spot where it started to fall apart. Although there is not yet any official word on what was the cause of the derailment, it seems that an entire section of railway tracks slid off the embankment, as evidenced by the photos.

After the train accident, BNSF spokesman, Steve Forsberg stated that an investigation into the cause of the derailment would be conducted. Forsberg also said that during the clean-up process crews would be looking for evidence.

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