Freight train derailment blocks Metra North Central line

A pre-dawn freight train derailment near Buffalo Grove forced the cancellation of commuter rail service between Antioch and Chicago on Friday.

Seventeen of the 72 cars on the southbound Canadian National train derailed about 4 a.m. between Aptakisic Road and Deerfield Parkway, authorities said.

No one was injured in the accident. It occurred near a largely industrial area in unincorporated Lake County, and no employees were at nearby businesses, Buffalo Grove Fire Chief Terrence Vavra said.

The CN line also is used for Metra service. The derailment damaged the tracks and disrupted service for 4,500 to 5,000 commuters who use Metra's North Central line. That line includes stops in Lake Villa, Round Lake Beach, Grayslake, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Prairie View, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Rosemont, Schiller Park and Franklin Park.

Metra officials advised rail commuters to use the Milwaukee District North Line from Fox Lake, or find other transportation into Chicago.

Among the inconvenienced rail commuters was Buffalo Grove Trustee Jeff Berman, who rides the North Central line to his Chicago law office every weekday. His wife, Jane, a lawyer who also is president of the Vernon Area Library District board, usually rides Metra to work, too.

"I woke up my wife and said, 'We're not taking the train today. We're driving in,'" Berman said.

Buffalo Grove resident Howie Rosenstein took his wife's car to work in Chicago because of the derailment - and he wasn't looking forward to the return trip.

"I have to drive home in the Friday-night rush now," he said. "It's a pain in the neck."

Instead of taking the North Central line Friday, lawyer Matt Cohn drove to Deerfield and hopped aboard a Milwaukee District North train to the city.

Cohn, also of Buffalo Grove, said he actually arrived in the city earlier than normal.

Metra trains do not run on the North Central line on weekends. CN spokesman Patrick Waldron said Metra service on the North Central should be ready for commuters Monday, but it was not immediately clear how long it would take to repair the damaged tracks.

The cars that jumped the tracks were in the middle of the train, authorities said. The Federal Railroad Administration and CN are investigating what caused the derailment.

It did not appear security related, FRA spokesman Warren Flatau said. The weather and equipment are among the factors investigators will scrutinize, he said.

The North Central track was inspected just six days ago, Waldron said.

The train's speed was not immediately known, but it was traveling "significantly slower" than usual because of the extreme cold, Waldron said.

The derailment activated rail crossing signals and gates at four nearby intersections - Aptakisic Road, Route 22, Buffalo Grove Road and Deerfield Parkway - for about an hour.

All but the Deerfield Parkway crossing reopened by 6 a.m., Buffalo Grove police Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said. The Deerfield crossing, which was blocked by the train locomotive, reopened about 8:30 a.m.

The locomotive and other unaffected cars south of the derailed cars were able to proceed down the track, Kristiansen said. A locomotive was sent to the scene from the north to remove cars north of the wreck that remained on the track, leaving only the derailed cars.

Traffic delays weren't too bad in the area because the train derailed before rush hour, Kristiansen said. Nearby schools were closed Friday, so buses and other school-related traffic was not on the roads, he said.

Two derailed freight cars were carrying molten sulfur, but authorities said those cars did not leak or pose any public safety risk, contrary to early reports.

Other freight spilled, however, including loads of lumber and fertilizer, officials said.

"There was quite a bit of lumber that came off the cars as they derailed," Vavra said.

The site of the derailment is surrounded by parking lots and large industrial buildings. Drivers who crossed the tracks at Deerfield Parkway on Friday were unaware of the massive cleanup job a quarter-mile away.

Almost three dozen workers in yellow vests lumbered back and forth across the tracks, blowing on their hands to keep warm. Using cranes, some crews tried to lift derailed train cars, a few of which were almost laying on their side against trees.

The derailment caused some minor damage to nearby fencing, buildings and trailers, Vavra said.

Vavra was relieved the train was hauling freight instead of passengers.

"If you could say you'd rather have one or the other, I'd rather have a freight train than a commuter train," he said. "We'd have hundreds of people on a commuter train."

A group called The Regional Answer to Canadian National, which is opposed to the CN's pending purchase of the Chicago area's EJ&E railway, issued a statement Friday critical of the CN.

"Canadian National's safety record continues to be deplorable," the statement read. "The frightening reality is that if a derailment similar to the one today occurred along the EJ&E, it would paralyze our towns."

In response, CN's Waldron said the wreck never endangered the public.

"Safety is a top priority to CN and one of our core principles," Waldron said.

• Daily Herald staff writer Sheila Ahern contributed to this report.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=9&type=video&item=287">Clip from the scene of the derailment </a></li> </ul> <div class="moreSubHead"> Photos </div> <ul class="moreGallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=264980" class="mediaItem">Photo gallery </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=265102">Metra has a plan for Monday, if tracks aren't ready <span class="date"> [1/16/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>