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Train derailment shuts down city road
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Train cars derailed from the tracks along 4th Avenue West in Monroe between West 17th Street and West 21st Street on April 22, causing a portion of the roadway to be shut down. - Times photo by Marissa Weiher

MONROE — Wisconsin and Southern Railroad was called in Monday afternoon for a derailed train car behind Badger State Ethanol, according to Monroe Chief of Police Fred Kelley.

Police barricaded 4th Avenue West between West 17th Street and West 21st Street due to train cars blocking the road.

As of 3 p.m., a contractor from Rockford had not yet arrived with special equipment to lift the car and repair the track, according to Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits, who happened upon the road blockage. Per a statement from Smits, barricades were removed as of 4:50 p.m.

No injuries were reported from the accident and no freight spilled, Kelley said.

Workers use a small engine-driven shuttle to move train cars around the tracks in the freight yard behind the ethanol plant. Early Monday afternoon, one car was backed onto the wrong track, causing the track to slide three or four feet, Kelley said.

"Somehow (the car) got crossed onto two different tracks and it's wedged, so to speak," he said. "One set of wheels is on one track, and another set of wheels is on another track."

Since freight cars weigh so much, "they can't just be jacked up," Kelley added.