Rail bridge collapse north of Pueblo, Coloado, 1 dead

Looks like a ton of coal got spilled. Mr. Buffett's not going to be happy. I-25 shut down north of Pueblo where the BNSF line crosses over the highway.

CBS Colorado coverage.
Local NBC station coverage, KOAA:

PUEBLO COUNTY — The derailment of several train cars carrying coal is expected to impact travel on Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Pueblo for a significant amount of time as debris is on the rail tracks and the interstate.

According to photos from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office, several cars are off the rails and in lanes of I-25. The images also appear to show damage to the rail bridge over the interstate.

There's no confirmation from authorities on whether any vehicles on I-25 were involved in the crash. Colorado Springs Fire Department is sending Heavy Rescue 17, Battalion Chief 1, and Special Operations Unit 52 to assist.

Been under that bridge a few times, and those trains fly up and down the Joint Line.

Update on this via KOAA's link above:

PUEBLO COUNTY — Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Pueblo remains closed at mile marker 107 following the derailment of several train cars carrying coal Sunday afternoon.

Colorado State Patrol confirmed Sunday evening a tractor-trailer driver was killed when 12 cars from a BNSF train came off the railway overpass. The name of the driver has not been released.

As usual national news stories on rr mishaps are short on facts and long on editorializing ie trains are too long, unsafe and not sufficiently inspected. What is known is this was a 124 car loaded BNSF coal manifest from Wyoming’s Powder River basin to a power plant in Texas, these trains run nearly every day loaded southbound on the joint line. What is noteworthy is this train derailed on a bridge over interstate 25 in Pueblo County and has blocked this major north south thoroughfare and is causing huge commercial trucking delays. NTSB on scene and releasing no preliminary info as to cause but having traveled this highway countless time I have my theory. This was a former Santa Fe 180 foot girder bridge over the northbound two lanes built in 1958, a type of structure not usually prone to failure, believe there is a curve before these two bridges as rr swings west out of creek valley and crosses interstate. It is unlikely this bridge failed because of train tonnage and more likely a derailment occurred destroying the span and crushing a semi which happened to be passing underneath and killing the driver. There is no easy detour around this location, old US 85 is about a mile east of the interstate and is two lanes only, federal inspectors have shut down the interstate and won’t allow a clean up to begin.

Does anybody know how trains will be rerouted around this?

No real need with the joint line -- it's two separate lines that parallel each other.

fp7fan wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:18 am Does anybody know how trains will be rerouted around this?

They'll probably back the train up onto the Spanish Peak subdivision, clear the wye, then head back north on the parallel track, assuming that track wasn't affected by the accident.

Update on the above KOAA link... they're reopening I-25.:

PUEBLO COUNTY — Today, Governor Polis visited the site of the derailment and provided an update on the cleanup process.

When it comes to I-25, the Governor said, “We are going to have southbound open within just a couple hours here. It’ll be open by this evening. Northbound will be open tomorrow.”

As far as the bridge is concerned, Polis said, "BNSF is stepping up to replace the bridge. They will be moving one segment of bridge from another state to complete the connection. That, as I said, will require additional highway closures of up to 24 hours in a few weeks. We want to work to minimize the impact to residents during that period.”

A guy in my old Army unit out of Fort Carson runs a small trucking company now, he put up a video of a long line of trucks waiting on 25S to assist with the cleanup, he was in the convoy.

124 cars is around 7000 feet of train. Not exactly what I'd consider a PSR monster, especially considering BNSF doesn't officially participate in PSR...

eolesen wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 6:07 pm 124 cars

Those were the standard coal trains when I was stationed out there 2010-13. Usually 2-4 units up front, with 2 on the rear. That was most of what I saw along the Joint Line during those 3 years.