Derailment spills UPS packages, blocks trains

BURNS HARBOR, Ind. -- A freight train bound for Chicago derailed Friday, splitting open several train cars loaded with UPS packages just days before Christmas.

Hundreds of UPS workers went to the site to load packages onto trailers and get them back on their way, company spokesman James Vickery said.

An engine and 10 cars derailed near U.S. 12 and Indiana 149 about 10 miles east of Gary, Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said. No injuries were reported, but the derailment also blocked some Amtrak trains to and from Chicago.

Amtrak said it stopped some westbound trains at Elkhart or Michigan City and arranged for buses to bring passengers to Chicago. Passengers for some eastbound trains were being taken by bus from Chicago to Michigan City or Toledo, Ohio, to board other trains.

The freight train, which was traveling from Secaucus, N.J., hauled 39 UPS containers. The UPS tracking system will allow customers to track their packages online and be notified if their parcel was thrown off the train, Vickery said.

One South Shore commuter train bound for Chicago was stopped briefly by the derailment, said Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District spokesman John Parsons. Passengers on that train returned to stations while emergency crews assessed damage to the tracks.