HOWARD (NBC 26) — Right by the roundabout of Velp Avenue and Lineville Road in the Village of Howard sits a train that derailed from its tracks.
Village of Howard Public Works Director Geoff Farr confirmed the train derailed on Sunday, and now, public works is in the process of cleaning it up.
Farr said he didn't know the cause of the derailment, but he believes there were no hazardous materials being carried on the train. However, he said the village doesn't have much information on the incident.
He said the railroad is owned by Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad, and they have also been at the location of the derailment.
Wisconsin's Commissioner of Railroads Don Vruwink said since Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad owns the railroad, Vruwink's office does not have legal power over the tracks, despite what people might think.
He said their office's job is to be proactive for and regulate safety at public railroad crossings.
However, he said sometimes their office is notified of incidents on the tracks, depending on the situation. Heather Graves, a policy analyst at the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads, agreed.
“Railroads are required to notify our office anytime there is a fatality on their railroad or anytime there is an incident that has substantial damages," Graves said.
Graves said their office was notified on Monday via email, which is standard in this case, but she doesn't know the extent of the damage.
"In this case, the cars simply ran off the track, and it sounded like it was a broken rail," Vruwink added. "I know when we had the derailment of the Mississippi River, I got a call from the railroad itself to say that cars were off, this is what they were doing, this is what was going to be happening."
The office said the Federal Railroad Administration is the entity that deals with many incidents on the tracks, and railroads may be required to notify them.
For instance, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office reported that a train stalled within half a mile of the site of Sunday’s derailment back in April of 2023, and the office said a train stalling is a federal issue.
However, Vruwink said he wants people to know that train derailments and incidents are still uncommon.
"We hear about it all the time..but it's the safest form of travel," Vruwink said. "Think about how many semi-crashes there are every day."
We reached out to Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad for comment, but have not heard back. The railroad has not confirmed an official cause yet.
