TEMPLETON, Iowa — Cleanup continues after a BNSF train derailed Thursday, March 6, in west-central Iowa, WOI and KCWI-TV report.
The derailment occurred about 3:24 p.m. near Templeton. Video on the stations’ website shows heavy equipment working in deep snow around three locomotives; no information was available on the number of railcars involved, but BNSF told the station that no one was injured.
A updated BNSF customer advisory posted today (March 7) indicates the line was reopened at 7:58 p.m. CT. Templeton is on BNSF’s Bayard Subdivision, a 100-mile branch line running northeast from Council Bluffs to Bayard, Iowa. The derailment site is approximately 22 miles from Bayard.
— Updated March 8 at 7:45 a.m. CT with reopening of line.
Does anybody know the schedule on this branch line. At one time they only ran when the elevators requested service ?
Sad, way back in the day Milwaukee passenger trains were known to hit 100 mph in stretches in this area. It’s hard to imagine that it is a dead end branch line now when it had been one of the many mainline trains across Iowa. Chicago to Omaha on the Milwaukee Road, Rock Island, Illinois Central, C&NW, CGW, Burlington
Although snowy weather conditions hampered efforts to clear the site and resume normal operations, BNSF crews effectively completed the cleanup process. Additionally, this rail disruption underscored severe weather’s absolute impact on critical infrastructure.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Ditto, MILW used to run through Perry and Madrid, my wife’s old stomping grounds.
That part of the line is now a very nice trail- the High Trestle Trail. The high bridge over the Des Moines river is spectacular.
This branch line is what is left of the MILW mainline between Chicago and Omaha.
One of my bosses was Section Foreman at Coon Rapids, Iowa (not Coon Rapids, MN).
The local uses the UP to east of Omaha to access this line.
Ed Burns
Retired Clerk NP BN BNSF from Minneapolis.