No injuries as empty cars derail east of Weyburn

At first, Joy Guider thought the rumbling she heard Tuesday was a tornado.

It turned out to be a huge train derailment, which resulted in several cars spilling over the side of the tracks along Highway 39 near the village of Halbrite.

When Guider woke up at 4 a.m. the next morning, she saw the aftermath.

“There’s lots of equipment out here right now, and the seed cars are all still in the ditch by the tracks,” said Guider during a phone interview from her home, which is located approximately four kilometres northwest of Halbrite.

At 7:24 a.m., the Highway Hotline tweeted that traffic was restricted to one lane on Highway 39 17.8 kilometres west of Midale and 25.8 kilometres east of Weyburn.

Up until the afternoon, the derailed cars were also blocking Guider from leaving her yard, but were later cleared. She said there were still more cars still lying on the side of the tracks.

“There’s a lot of work yet to be done. It’s a long ways from cleaned up,” said Guider.

In a statement, Canadian Pacific Railway confirmed that a derailment of empty intermodal containers. CP said there were no injuries to the crew and no danger posed to public safety.

CP said the rail line was reopened to traffic on Wednesday morning following repairs and safety checks. The derailment is now is under investigation.

Guider suspected the cars may have been derailed by the strong winds of a storm which blew in last night.

While the incident caused some inconvenience, Guider was glad no hazardous materials were on board the cars.

“I’m just very thankful that none of it was dangerous goods that derailed,” she said.

Halbrite is located 151 kilometres southeast of Regina.