Trains derail near Granger

A railroad incident resulting in two trains derailing on a Union Pacific line near Granger late Monday evening is still under investigation.

According to Calli Hite, a spokesperson for the Union Pacific Railroad, the incident occurred at about 9:45 p.m. and did not involve serious or life-threatening injuries. The two trains involved were a coal train and a intermodal train.

Hite said intermodal trains are used to carry stacked freight as part of a larger transportation system to distribute goods; and are often seen transporting freight originating from Asia.

Crews were at the site Tuesday morning cleaning up, accompanied by a long row of heavy-haul trucks parked along the road leading to the Tronox's Granger site.

Workers used heavy equipment to help mitigate the debris from the derailment and also photographed the aftermath of the incident.

Hite said U.P. is unable to make further comment about the incident, saying the National Transportation Safety Board had not started their investigation of the scene. The NTSB was established in 1967 and investigates major accidents on all modes of transportation.

According to the NTSB's website, the last rail incident the board investigated in Wyoming happened October 2005 when a U.P. train struck and killed an employee working on an adjacent track near Laramie. Members of the NTSB interviewed U.P. employees Tuesday night.

Mike Liberty, interim fire chief for Green River, said firefighters responded to the incident, but did not do much at the scene.

"There really wasn't much for us," Liberty said.

Castle Rock Ambulance service also responded to the scene and transported one patient to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.

No other information about the incident was available by press time.

 

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