MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — Thirty-eight cars of a Union Pacific coal train derailed about 2 miles east of Marshalltown on Sunday evening, Aug. 4, KCCI-TV reports.
The derailment occurred about 5:30 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Marshalltown is about 148 miles west of Clinton, Iowa, on UP’s Clinton Subdivision. It is about 70 miles west of Cedar Rapids and 50 miles northeast of Des Moines.
Finally, I’m glad I worked for a short line. I would hate to read about my derailment in Trains News Wire.
Sadly, many of the new cars are being built in Mexico.
Better Mexico than China!
At least it didn’t happen in town as then they could have attributed it to the Chicago Great Western main line and associated crossovers from Oelwein and to Des Moines. M& St L main lines that went north to Mason City and maybe the culprit M&StL line to Oskaloosa.
However there are many crossovers in the Marshalltown area. Would be nice if Trains would do follow updates as to cause, etc
UP personnel know the cause probably by Monday AM at the latest.
Yes, if it’s Sunday evening, it must be time for a UP coal train derailment in western Iowa.
Good point by Mr. Everitt above. Yes, the railcar manufacturers should see an uptick in orders to replace all of the wrecked freight cars in these daily derailments. Should help off-set the declining manufacturing business as we slide into the inevitable recession sometime later this summer or early this fall (?).
There is a crossover switch 2mi east of Marshalltown where the UP Oskaloosa Sub turns south from the UP Clinton Mainline. I am sure one of the cars got fouled and hit the ground.
I think Trains should rename News Wire to “Derail Wire” or just “Derail Zone”
It shouldn’t be assumed that a crossover switch is the cause of the derailment.
There is just too many causes for derailments and I have switches as one of the least in my personal experience.
The railcar manufacturers must be excited to see all this new business. Railroads and lease companies are going to have to replace some of the cars wrecked by the daily derailments.
With the continued decline in coal volumes, don’t hold your breath for any new hoppers to be built. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d wonder if the derailments weren’t sneaky ways to get the cars written off before they become obsolete and taking up storage space on some branch somewhere.
Too late. There are a large number of utility owned cars sitting stored on their plant access lines across the US. I remember surveying a branch line servicing a closed strip mine where there were dozens of CSX coal hoppers rusting away with breaks only to allow traffic to pass on country roads. Unfortunately I couldn’t be there when the line was finally abandoned and the cars removed, but I figured they sat there rusting for at least 8-12 years before being taken away.