Baltic derailment to keep road closed Sioux Falls Argus Leader A train derailment Tuesday afternoon is expected to disrupt traffic in Baltic, SD and operations at L.G. Everist gravel distribution through Thursday. Five rail cars hauling gravel south from the L.G. Everist red rock quarry in Dell Rapids left the track about 3 p.m. as they were passing through Baltic on the way to Sioux City, Iowa. Three of the cars tipped onto their sides and two others derailed, damaging the asphalt at the intersection of the train track and 250th Street. The train was pulling about 80 rail cars. No injuries were reported as a result of the accident. Authorities blocked off traffic on 250th Street between 472nd Avenue and Second Street in Baltic after the spill. Sgt. Preston Evans of the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office said the road could be closed until Thursday because of damage to the road's surface and the difficulty of removing derailed cars from the track and road area. While inspecting the crash site Tuesday afternoon, Jack Parliament, president of the Dakota & Iowa Railroad, a subsidiary of L.G. Everist, said the cause of the derailment won't be known until the cars are removed and a thorough track inspection is done. "We suspect some sort of track failure, but we can't say for sure," he said. About 400 feet of track, a crossing signal station, the rail crossing, damaged asphalt and the five rail cars would need to be repaired or replaced. Parliament estimated the damage at $125,000. To remove the damaged cars from the site, Parliament said mobile cranes will be shipped to the scene from a Minneapolis. "They are mobilizing right now and they will be set up at 6 a.m." today, he said. Parliament said the stretch of track is used to haul two loads of product each day. "So we'll be down a couple (or) three days as well," he said. The derailment is D & I's first in seven years, when a truck ran into a train a few miles south of Baltic, Parliament said.
Oops! Glad it was loads of an inert substance. At least there is plenty of ballast located nearby to bring in....
