Rail line reopened near Essex

The Daily Inter Lake

Crews have finished removing 16 freight cars from tracks on the BNSF Railway main line after they derailed Saturday near Essex.

After the last freight car was cleared about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, the cars were taken to a side track and are awaiting further inspection, said Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas.

The BNSF main line near Essex is composed of two sets of parallel tracks. One set was opened Sunday morning, the second on Tuesday.

"All lines are open. All traffic is moving," Melonas said.

The 47-car BNSF freight train was en route from Chicago to Seattle carrying new automobiles when it derailed Saturday afternoon near the southern boundary of Glacier National Park. Seven of the cars had tipped onto their sides and had to be righted.

The derailment disrupted holiday travel for more than 3,000 Amtrak rail passengers. One eastbound and one westbound Empire Builder train between Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul were canceled. Others were delayed, one for 22 hours.

Service has since returned to normal and trains are expected to operate through the previously closed section of track, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

Crews also have finished repairing a section of track three miles west of Whitefish that was damaged Monday morning by a grain train with a broken wheel.

That section of the BNSF main line, which is a single track, reopened about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Some 40 trains operate on BNSF's main line across northern Montana each day.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.