Cleanup continues with Dixon train derailment

DIXON – Cleanup efforts are continuing west of Dixon where 39 Union Pacific Railroad cars derailed on Christmas Eve.

Around 1:49 a.m. Dec. 24, 39 out of 201 train cars derailed near Rock Island and Atkinson roads, spilling some of their contents but injuring no one.

A small amount of nut oil and sulfuric acid leaked from the cars, but both leaks were minor and contained by train contractors and EMA crews, meaning there was no need to evacuate the area, and the amount of sulfuric acid spilled wasn’t enough to pose a danger to crew members containing it.

The train, which was heading west from Proviso, Illinois, to North Platte, Nebraska, consisted of five locomotives hauling 201 rail cars carrying mixed freight, including lumber and soybeans, which were in some of the derailed cars.

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Work continues at the site of the Christmas eve train car derailment just outside of Dixon. Investigators are still trying to determine a cause of the accident. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)