From Ch 49 Topeka

Flood waters derail coal train at Fort Riley
Story by Don Gay

3:11 p.m. Sunday, May 6, 2007

Fort Riley — Fort Riley and Junction City emergency crews responded to reports of a derailed train on Fort Riley around 5:40 a.m. Sunday.

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

A Union Pacific Coal train derailed near the Grant Avenue gate on Fort Riley. The weight of the train caused the trestle bridge, weakened by high water levels, to collapse.
Workers arrived to find an empty Union Pacific coal train derailed near the Grant Avenue gate on Fort Riley. According to public relations officials at Fort Riley, high water levels had weakened the supports of a trestle bridge, causing it to collapse when the train passed over it. The engineer and conductor were both taken to Geary County Community Hospital with minor injuries.

Officials say that at this time it appears that there was no fuel contamination of the Kansas River due to the derailment.