Derailment in Steilacoom blocks Seattle-Portland Amtrak service

STEILACOOM — A freight train derailed early today, halting passenger train traffic on both sets of tracks on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe main line and blocking access to a ferry terminal south of Tacoma.

Two passenger trains between Seattle and Portland were canceled, and passengers on Los Angeles-Seattle trains and on some shorter routes were being bused between Seattle and Portland, according to a news release.

Railroad crews worked to reopen the road leading to the dock used by ferries between the mainland and McNeil, Anderson and Ketron islands, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said.

Normal ferry operations between Steilacoom and McNeil Island, site of a state prison and the Special Commitment Center for sexual predators, resumed a few hours after the first run of the day had to be canceled, said Chad Lewis, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

Guards and other prison workers who showed up for the 6 a.m. run were bused to a nearby marina and taken from there to the island, Lewis said.

Some inmate transfers were postponed, visitation was canceled and supply barge service was suspended. Lewis said the island had ample reserves of food, goods and supplies.

Pierce County, which runs ferry service from Steilacoom to Anderson and Ketron islands, offered two passenger-only sailings while derailed freight cars blocked the road to the ferry terminal early today, said Toby Rickman, spokesman for the county's public works and utilities department.

Crews began repairing damage to the road after the derailed cars were hauled away, Rickman said. The county planned to open ferry service to passenger vehicles by late morning, but commercial vehicles won't be able to reach the terminal until full road repairs are completed, Rickman said.

A 95-car freight train with four locomotives was going less than 45 mph when 13 cars jumped the tracks about 3 a.m. at a concrete block crossing on the road leading to the ferry terminal, he said. No one was injured and the cause of the derailment was under investigation.

One of the derailed cars contained ethylene glycol, a component of antifreeze that is considered a hazardous substance, but remained upright and did not leak or pose any threat to the environment, Melonas said.

The other cars carried mostly agricultural products, including wheat, soybeans and soybean oil.

The affected tracks carry 50 trains a day, including Amtrak and Union Pacific freight trains, and alternate routings for at least some of the freight traffic were being considered, Melonas said.