CRASH: Trains run again by Friday
way to remove the wrecked cars.
At the accident scene, Sparks said the derailment was not caused by weather or human error, but wouldn’t speculate about the cause until he had finished his investigation. Sparks covers the area for the railroad from Fort Smith to Monett, Mo., and has worked for the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad for 17 years. He said he’s been to several classes on train derailment. He investigated the scene to determine the cause.
He said this train goes through twice daily — once up to Monett and once back to Springdale/Fort Smith. At Monett, it “interchanges” with Burlington-Northern.
Twenty of 45 cars derailed beginning with back cars just off Roberts Loop and U.S. Highway 62, with five of those cars lying on their sides forming an accordion shape zigzagging across the tracks. Further up the tracks, several cars tipped to the side with the wheels off the twisted tracks and limestone rocks broken away from the edge of the hillside nearby.
“The engineer, Bill Wheeler, is one of our best engineers,” Sparks said, adding that Wheeler has worked for the railroad for 24 years. “He’s very experienced and knows what he’s doing.”
The train cars were carry- ing mostly sand — masonry sand and fracking sand, Sparks said.
Sparks said the wreck began in the back, near the first driveway off the west end of Roberts Loop.
“It started back here. Once it started pulling away from the train, it looses air and the train pulled apart. He (the engineer felt it),” Sparks said. He said that equipment would be sent to the site from Kansas City and Wichita to right the cars and rebuild the train tracks immediately. The driveway that was blocked was cleared that afternoon.