Train crash dumps 1,456 tons of soybeans

Waves of soybeans rolled into the Clark Fork River after a train derailed and dumped 19 cars along the bank. The accident happened at 5:22 a.m. Oct. 22 about 2.5 miles west of Plains. One train car was partially submerged in the water and several others were severely damaged. According to a company spokesperson, there were no injuries and no hazardous wastes dumped.

The 111-car train was on its way from Mitchell, S.D. to Tacoma, Wash., loaded with soybeans when it crashed. One-third of a carload, or about 37 tons of beans, ended up in the river but were contained in a natural back eddy. Montana Rail Link was able to salvage six cars worth of beans, which they sent on to Tacoma, but the other 13 carloads — or approximately 1,456 tons of soybeans — ended up along the shore.

Lynda Frost, Montana Rail Link’s assistant to the president, said the company is still working on pumping the beans out of the river and off the bank.

“This is an extraordinarily difficult clean-up because of the terrain,” she said.

One problem is that the track is so close to the river; the second problem is that 1,456 tons of soybeans leaves a “soft bank,” Frost explained. Both factors make it difficult to get the necessary heavy equipment close to the river.

“Bottom line, we have to formulate some unconventional methods to remove the soybeans,” she said.

Frost said Monday afternoon that the company hoped to get things cleaned up in the next two days. She said more road closures were possible during the clean-up, though it was impossible to tell until they had a more concrete plan.

Both Highway 200 and the train tracks were closed while crews cleaned up the derailed cars. By Friday night, trains and traffic flowed smoothly again. Frost said there was more than 30-train backlog by the time the tracks were clear.

Since the tracks have reopened, it’s been “pretty much constant traffic,” she added.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.