Freight Train Derails Outside Sandpoint

A Union Pacific Railroad freight train derailed early Saturday just south of Sandpoint.

There were no injuries and no hazardous materials released, according to police and company officials.

It was the third UP derailment in the last month in North Idaho. Eighteen empty freight cars left the tracks at about 2 a.m., according to a Union Pacific spokesman.

The 102-car train was traveling from Hinkle, Ore., to the Eastport station near the Canadian border when it hit a broken rail, said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.

The derailment occurred about six miles south of Sandpoint, near an area known as Morton Slough. Union Pacific electronically inspected the track twice this year, once in July and again early this month, Davis said.

“We’ll bring pieces of the rail back to our lab in Omaha to try to determine why it broke,” he said.

The company had about 100 people working at the scene to pick up the rail cars and replace 400 feet of track. UP expected the line would reopen today.

The company just finished picking up after its latest derailment, in late September just south of the Eastport border station. Six cars left the track, and five dumped loads of lumber.