Fox 6 NowCALEDONIA (WITI) — A Union Pacific train derailed in Caledonia just east of the intersection of 5 Mile Rd. and Nicholson Rd. on Sunday morning, January 19th.
19 cars went off the rails as a result of the incident. You can view pictures taken by the Caledonia Fire Department and FOX6 News crews below. The train had three locomotives and 135 coal cars from Wyoming headed for Sheboygan.
As a result of the derailment, 5 Mile Rd. between Nicholson Rd. and Highway 38 will be closed indefinitely.
Officials say there are no injuries and no hazardous materials were spilled in the wreck. The Wisconsin DNR was notified and an environmental containment crew was called to the scene to monitor the cleanup.
A spokesman with Union Pacific says four teams are working this investigation.
The first team is looking into whether there are any human factors that may have caused the derailment.
The second team is looking at mechanical factors.
The third team is looking at the railroad tracks and their condition.
The fourth team is handling other factors that could have caused the incident.
That spokesman says heavy machinery has been brought in to remove the rail cars — and cleanup of coal spilled is taking place simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Jeff Plale says there is no official word as to what caused this incident — but he says when the weather gets cold, it can cause fissures and fractures in the rails.
Crews will work around the clock until the work is completed.
This could be caused by vandalism, but I do not think that they should be haveing any train traffic of anykind in the winter because of how the ground can heave and how the track rails expand and contract in the winter.
Does it seem to you that we’re having a lot of derailments lately digger? I’m thinking we’ve already had enough train wrecks to have fully tested the derailment process.
Ha Ha yes, you are right. Millard .
I just now read that it was caused by the cold fractures..
ANOTHER train derail. Train derailments these days are like the flu. Must be something going around.