Amtrak traffic rerouted by bus due to BN derailment

A train derailment in Cut Bank led to a rough night for several passengers on a westbound Amtrak train.

A BNSF Railway train hauling grain derailed near Cut Bank at about 2:23 p.m. Thursday.

While there were no injuries in that incident, the derailment stopped the progress of the Empire Builder that was headed west. The train had to stop in Shelby, about 150 miles from Whitefish.

Kalispell resident Jerry Begg, 69, was one of several hundred people, many elderly, on the train. He said he was a little disappointed at Amtrak’s response to the situation. Begg, who headed up the Kalispell Red Cross and was that emergency agency’s state chairman in Montana for several years, felt that Amtrak should have been better prepared.

Begg said passengers were notified of the derailment by Amtrak, and that train officials told passengers that they’d be transferred to buses to reach their respective destinations.

“We believed we’d [stay] on the train until the buses got [to Shelby] to take us,” Begg said, but the passengers later discovered they had to get off the train when it arrived in Shelby at 6:30 p.m.

“They made us clear the train and wait outside because they said they had to clean it for the return,” Begg said. “There was no food or water available for a couple of hours, the train conductor was nowhere to be found and the incoming one wasn’t there. There was no station master there; no one was in charge.”

Furthermore, Begg said, it was the way certain passengers had to wait that rankled some.

“There were three big, beautiful buses waiting when we came in, but they weren’t for everyone; they were for the tour group that was on the train to go to Glacier and Yellowstone national parks,” Begg said. “I spoke to one couple who said they paid $6,000 for their tickets, but for those who were in sleeper cars or riding coach, we had paid less and we had to wait longer.”

He said that for those who were part of the tour, they got to get on their buses and leave right away, but for those that were riding coach, they had to wait about five hours for a second set of buses that came from Whitefish and they didn’t leave until 11:30 p.m.

As of June 2, the station in Shelby only employs three customer service representatives, according to a story in the Cut Bank Pioneer Press.

Begg said passengers were sitting in the gravel, on the sidewalk or wherever they could.

“Many of these people were older, in their 60s, 70s, 80s. Some were using canes and walkers. One woman was sitting on a planter and she collapsed,” Begg said. “It could have been due to the heat, stress and becoming dehydrated. Fortunately, an ambulance took her to the hospital.”

Begg said two deputies from the Toole County Sheriff’s Office were at the station for about 10 minutes.

“Just the lack of preparation if something like this did happen was disappointing,” Begg said. “They know there are going to be derailments and they should be better prepared for when things happen. What if it had been winter when this happened?”

Begg did have words of praise for the two Amtrak representatives who helped out.

“They brought us water and snacks and they were very considerate and helpful, but we had to wait hours for that and the snacks weren’t much,” Begg said.

Begg provided the Inter Lake with the snack bag he said was provided by Amtrak. It contained three small bags, one each with pretzels, raspberry shortbread and trail mix.

“I believe we apologized to those people for what happened,” said Marc Magliari, public relations manager of Amtrak Government Affairs and Corporate Communications, but the information he had from on-site did not match what Begg said he had experienced.

“There aren’t many resources in Shelby,” Magliari said, “but I just talked to our people there, and three of the four buses we arranged to take people from the train were at the station before the train arrived. And the last bus was 45 minutes behind those.”

Magliari didn’t have any explanation for Begg’s five-hour wait.

“For those that were delayed, if they want, they can open a case with us. We want to know what went on,” Magliari said.

Begg said he was on the last bus at 11:30 p.m. after he helped others load their luggage. He arrived at Amtrak’s depot in Whitefish at 3 a.m.

“I had a hard time getting ahold of my ride and I had to wait there for a few hours before she picked me up. The person at the depot said I had to leave, but when I told her my story and that I had nowhere to go, she let me stay,” Begg said.

Begg said he has been riding trains nearly his entire life and although this experience wasn’t his favorite, it wouldn’t stop him from hopping on again.

“I just wish they had been a little more prepared for the situation and would have treated everyone a little better.”

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.