80 Injured as Amtrak’s California Zephyr Jumps Track in Iowa

RUSSELL, Iowa —  Amtrak’s California Zephyr slammed into a railroad crane laying new track Monday, knocking both locomotives and 11 cars of the passenger train off the tracks and injuring more than 80 people, officials said.

“Everything was going smoothly and all of the sudden I heard the screeching of the brakes and everyone went flying,” said passenger Mildred Faddis of Oakland, Calif. “There was debris everywhere. It was terrible.”

Amtrak spokeswoman Debbie Marciniak said the railroad’s 16-car No. 6 train was headed east toward Chicago when it hit a Burlington Northern “bridge derrick” shortly after 11:30 a.m. near Russell.

Eighty people were taken to the Lucas County Memorial Hospital in nearby Chariton, said hospital administrator Bill Bruce, while three of the most seriously hurt, including two railroad workers, were flown by helicopter to hospitals in Des Moines.

Marciniak said Amtrak’s records showed 248 passengers and 22 crew members were on the train.

Amtrak operates on Burlington Northern tracks across southern Iowa. Burlington Northern had a derrick and crew in the Russell area, but spokeswoman Yvette Brown said she couldn’t confirm the company’s equipment was involved.

She said a Burlington Northern employee in charge of the crew was injured, but said she had no details.

Several passengers said it was announced shortly before the derailment that the train would be switching tracks because of work ahead, and the train had backed up before proceeding.

“Not long after that there was a terrific jolt,” said Johan Westra, 65, of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Amtrak porter Richard Maple said there had been reports a switch had not been thrown and the train was about to plow into a crew on the tracks when the engineer slammed on the brakes.

Most of those taken to the Chariton hospital suffered bumps and bruises, with some suffering broken bones. About 40 were treated and released, officials said.