HELENA (AP) Eight empty cars in a Montana Rail Link train derailed west of here, half of them falling off a trestle and landing on the ground below.
The derailment Sunday afternoon closed the tracks for about 12 hours, Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost said. No one was injured and the cause of the derailment remained under investigation Monday, she said. Frost said she did not know the height of the trestle. The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Department estimated it is at least 150 feet above the ground. The derailment happened in the Mullan Pass area 19 miles west of Helena as the train traveled from Laurel to Spokane, Wash. Frost said two of the eight cars were removed on Sunday and the others will be removed today. For safety reasons, use of a rural road in the area was restricted to local traffic, the sheriff’s department said.
