Derailed cars still being cleared in Kittson County

A detour in Kittson County remains in effect after last Wednesday’s (May 31) derailment of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train.

Highway 59 is still closed from just outside Lancaster to just north of Lake Bronson. Traffic is being routed around the scene via Highway 175 and County Road 5.

Scot Olson, the Kittson County Emergency Management Director, says MnDOT plans to have the detour in place through June 14th.

“We derailed 24 cars,” Olson said. “Most of them are still on site. The railroad took the cars that were still on the rail, they took them north to Winnipeg and south to Thief River Falls. But these derailed cars were damaged and off the rails.”

Several hazardous materials cars were among the two dozen derailed … but no toxic chemicals spilled and no injuries were reported.

Olson says detours are never a “good” thing, but “the road being detoured is in an area where it’s basically like a one-mile jog to the west and then a turn north. It’ll take you right into Lancaster. So tt’s not a real inconvenient detour, as detours go.”

Olson says the railroad tracks themselves have been cleared since last Thursday.