Train trestle collapses in Corvallis; cars carrying urea go into Mary’s River

Corvallis Police and Fire responded to a train trestle collapse near Avery Park on Saturday afternoon.

"I heard a big old boom and then the house shook," Raymond Eveleth told KATU.

The train derailed just feet from his backyard. "It was kind of scary ’cause I never had the house shook before," he added.

“Initial investigations show the trestle collapsed while a freight train was crossing. At this time, there are no known injuries, but it is still an active scene and investigation,” Corvallis Police said in a post on Facebook.

"At approximately noon today, a Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR) bridge outside Corvallis collapsed while a 19-car train was traversing over it, derailing a railcar carrying urea into Mary’s River," a spokesperson for PNWR tells KATU News.

Urea is a chemical often used for fertilizer, cosmetics and skincare products.

The spokesperson for DEQ told KATU there is no danger to the water system in the area and that the chemicals should dissipate before it makes it enters the Willamette River.

Containment booms have been set up in the Mary’s River to capture any additional leaked materials.

On Saturday afternoon, Corvallis Fire said one train car had entered the river, while two others have become unstable.

However, this is not the first time the bridge has faced trouble.

Several years ago, the trestle caught fire and took crews nearly nine hours to put out, according to locals.

"There was a pretty major fire on that bridge and I know the pictures I saw of it at the time, that the the bridge was pretty well engulfed all the way across," said Tim Smith who runs the Corvallis/Benton County Uncensored Scanner Facebook Page.

He and others told KATU they noticed homeless camps underneath the bridge. It’s unclear what caused that fire in 2022 or the bridge to collapse on Saturday.

https://katu.com/news/local/train-trestle-collapses-near-avery-park-corvallis-no-injuries-reported-so-far-benton-county-oregon
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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: January 6, 2025, 3:00 am.

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