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Freight train derails in Coal Creek Canyon

Associated Press

GOLDEN, Colo. – A freight train derailed near the foothills west of Denver Thursday, sending an empty grain car plunging about 25 feet to the roadway below.

The car didn’t hit any vehicles on Colorado 72, a small highway that connects mountain communities to the Denver suburbs, and no injuries were reported.

The 94-car Union Pacific train was crossing a bridge over the highway at the entrance to Coal Creek Canyon when eight empty cars derailed, said railroad spokesman Mark Davis.



Crews hoped to have the car removed from the road and the tracks reopened by Thursday evening.

The tracks carry both freight trains and a soon-to-be reopened passenger train that takes skiers from Denver to the mountains.

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The highway will remain closed until bridge inspectors can determine that the bridge above didn’t suffer structural damage, said Colorado Department of Transportation Department spokesman Bob Wilson.

It’s not yet known why the train derailed.

The accident happened one day after a coal train derailed in Colorado Springs.


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