Track washout to blame for partial derailment of train in B.C.: CN Rail

VANCOUVER -

The mudslides and flash flooding reported across southern British Columbia during an intense fall storm also had an impact on a national railway over the weekend.

A photo submitted to CTV News showed a Canadian National Railway train with a Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive partially off the tracks on Sunday.

A CN spokesperson confirmed one of the numerous mudslides and washouts in the Fraser River Valley led to a partial train derailment of a train operated by a CN crew. Two railcars came off the tracks, as shown in the photo.

CN said the derailment happened at around 6:30 p.m. in its Yale subdivision. It's unclear exactly where the train went off the tracks, but the unincorporated town of Yale, B.C., is near the start of the Fraser Canyon, about 25 kilometres north of Hope. It's also north of Haig, the site of a mudslide Monday that left several drivers stranded on the Trans-Canada Highway.

A spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Railway said the derailment was on CP's rail network, and was somewhere north of Yale. The locomotive was CP's, but the train and crew were from CN.

Fortunately, CN and CP say that no one was injured in the incident.

CN added that there was no fire or spill, and no dangerous goods were involved.

According to CP, teams were dispatched to the site immediately. CN said its crews also plan to tend to the site, but are awaiting "stabilization of conditions" before their work can begin. When they're able to get to the site, their work will involve construction efforts, the railway said, but it is unclear how much damage was caused in the incident.