Coal train derails

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette

Crews from Hulcher Professional Services work to remove the wreckage from a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad train derailment near Culbertson Saturday. The derailment happened about 9 a.m., just west of the train crossing on Highway 17. Twelve cars of an approximately 120-car eastbound coal train jumped the tracks, spilling their loads and damaging rails and ties. Steve Forsberg, general director of public relations for BNSF, said this morning that a broken wheel caused the derailment, as well as damage to rails at 13 points over 20 miles of track. The train was en route to the southeast United States from the Powder River area of Wyoming. Forsberg said crews repaired and reopened a siding track at 1 a.m., Sunday, and the main line was repaired and reopened later in the day Sunday.