Several Union Pacific train shipping containers toppled Monday morning north of Rock River, Wyoming.
It's unclear if the car frames derailed with them or stayed on the tracks.
No one was hurt, and Union Pacific crews have been working to clear the incident, which is under investigation, the company told Cowboy State Daily in a Monday email.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the incident as an “advisement” courtesy about 11:20 a.m., but deputies didn’t have to respond to any emergency or crime because there were no injuries, reports of hazardous chemical spills or damage to non-Union Pacific property, according to Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans.
The sheriff told Cowboy State Daily the incident happened between Fetterman Road and Highway 13 on Highway 30, north of Rock River.
Rock River Mayor CJ Leslie captured photographs of the wreckage.
She said it didn’t look as though the cars derailed, but rather as if the shipping boxes were stacked too high and the wind toppled them from the cars.
But Leslie said this is speculation and urged Cowboy State Daily to get an actual cause from Union Pacific.
The company said it’s investigating the cause.
Drawing from windspeed readings in Laramie, Rawlins, the Shirley Basin and an area near Rock River, Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said the area winds ranged from 40- to 50-plus mph speeds. But one sensor in Rock River showed a gust of 64 mph at 11:22 a.m., he added.
If wind was a factor, "that was likely the gust that did it," he said.
That speed is typically not enough to derail a train, said Day. As for toppling freight containers, he doubted 64 mph wind gusts could do that either — unless the containers were empty.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
