Thirty freight cars carrying fertilizer derailed in southeastern New Mexico on April 13, causing considerable damage to tracks and a bridge that handle train traffic out of the Carlsbad, N.M., area.
The accident occurred south of Artesia, N.M, on the Carlsbad Subdivision mainline. That stretch of track is run by Southwestern Railroad Inc. of Carlsbad, a shortline operating for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. A total of 35 cars derailed in the crash, with the remaining five carrying salt. The derailed cars were part of a 96-car train, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. No injuries were reported as a result of the derailment.
John McCormick, general manager of Southwestern Railroad, told Green Markets that a majority of the derailed cars carrying fertilizer were from Intrepid Potash. A source with The Mosaic Co. confirmed on April 15 that one of the railcars was theirs as well, and that it may have been loaded with K-Mag fertilizer. Both Intrepid and Mosaic operate potash and langbeinite mines in the Carlsbad area. Intrepid had not returned calls by press time.
McCormick said 34 of the 35 cars involved in the crash were completely destroyed; approximately 3,700 tons of total product were lost. McCormick said none of the fertilizer material involved in the crash was recovered. The crash also destroyed a 200-foot bridge spanning the dry bed of the Penasco River. Local reports said clean-up crews with 100-ton cranes were called in to remove tons of bent metal from around the tracks.
McCormick said there was no estimate on how long the bridge and track repair would take, but said the railroad is hoping to have at least a temporary track operating within a week. He said on April 15 that Southwestern Railroad was waiting for engineering designs “to determine what we can go back with.”
Some fertilizer industry contacts expressed concern that the damaged line will impact shipments of potash products from Carlsbad, particularly as the busy spring planting season kicks into high gear.
Southwestern Railroad began operating the BNSF Carlsbad Subdivision in 2004 under a lease agreement, and the line includes industrial spurs serving potash mines east of Carlsbad and Loving, N.M. In addition to its potash producing customers, the line serves a petroleum refinery in Artesia, and various feed mills and agricultural-related business south of Roswell, N.M., and also in Portales, N.M.