{"id":14925,"date":"2025-12-20T11:33:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T18:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=14925"},"modified":"2025-12-20T11:33:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T18:33:50","slug":"massive-train-derailment-occurs-17-miles-northwest-of-cheyenne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/20\/massive-train-derailment-occurs-17-miles-northwest-of-cheyenne\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Train Derailment Occurs 17 Miles Northwest Of Cheyenne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We had a lot of wind yesterday, and when I checked here in Cheyenne we had gusts of 66mph as reported by NWS at the airport. Down in Colorado they had even stronger winds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2025\/12\/19\/freight-cars-topple-off-tracks-after-wyomings-fierce-windstorm\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
A BNSF train carrying dozens of double-stacked freight cars derailed early Friday morning northwest of Cheyenne. Although no cause has been given, residents blame the wind. “This is the worst wind we’ve ever seen, and it\u2019s been blowing for days now.”<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Rossi & Jimmy Orr<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Train
Train derailment near the former town of Federal, Wyoming, on Friday, December 19, 2025 (Jimmy Orr, Cowboy State Daily)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After several days of hurricane-force winds<\/a>, including a 144-mph blast<\/a> in western Wyoming, double-stacked freight cars fell off railroad tracks near Federal, Wyoming, about 17 miles northwest of Cheyenne, one of the state\u2019s windiest corridors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neighbors said they believe dozens of train shipping containers toppled off the tracks sometime between 10 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linda Brandtberg Pette, who lives near the unincorporated community in Laramie County, saw the aftermath of the derailment from her home, only a quarter of a mile away from her house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it happened around 2 a.m. because my husband and I did wake up around that time,\u201d Pette told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cThe winds have been terrible out there definitely stronger than what they claim on the various weather channels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pette did not know if the wind had caused the cars to topple but she said she wouldn\u2019t be surprised.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s the worst wind we have seen, and it\u2019s been consistently blowing for days now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“150 Cars, Minimum”<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scott Lacy, who lives right next to the train tracks near the windy outpost had just got done surveying the damage Friday, driving on a dirt road parallel to the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said there had to be \u201cat least 150 cars minimum\u201d on the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wasn\u2019t sure exactly when the derailment happened except for it was \u201csometime this morning\u201d after 6 a.m., which is when his daughter goes to work, and she didn\u2019t see anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacy, who said his family has lived in the location since 1976, recalled an overloaded coal train derailing back in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut this was wind,\u201d he guessed. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen no wind turn over no train like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BNSF Railway was not available for comment on the cause of the derailment at the time of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacy\u2019s brother, a former conductor for Union Pacific, told him that with stacked freight cars (rail cars that have containers stacked on top of each other), when \u201cone falls over, they all fall over,\u201d Lacy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Realm Of Possibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The landscape between Cheyenne and Laramie is infamous for its hazardous weather, and this week has been no exception. According to Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day, peak wind gusts in the vicinity of the derailment were between 75 to 78 mph on Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a notoriously windy area,\u201d he said. \u201cMy grandfather used to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, and I was always spun yarns about what it was like getting through that route, whether it was blizzards or windstorms. It\u2019s really nasty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day isn\u2019t an expert on railroads, but he knows that strong windstorms have caused derailments <\/a>in the past. It doesn\u2019t even take an exceptionally strong wind to topple a train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustained winds in that area were between 50 and 70 mph on Friday morning,\u201d he said. \u201cThat could theoretically cause a derailment, but it\u2019s also a stretch where derailments can just happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Height And Light<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Retired Union Pacific Railroad employee and former Wyoming legislator Stan Blake worked on the railroad for years. He said the wind speeds recorded between Cheyenne and Laramie could \u201cdefinitely\u201d derail a train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom what I saw, they were intermodal cars, which are overseas shipping containers they double stack,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a giant billboard going down the rails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blake explained that it\u2019s unlikely that a windstorm could blow over an entire train, but it could easily be enough to knock over a single car. From there, it\u2019s a domino-effect where one car can topple the whole train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of these trains cars are connected by really strong shelf couplers, so they don\u2019t come apart,\u201d he said. \u201cIf one starts to tip over, the next one’s going to go, and that\u2019ll take the whole thing down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locomotives won\u2019t be blown over by wind, but intermodal cars aren\u2019t nearly as heavy. When they\u2019re traveling along the rails, they\u2019re just as susceptible to strong wind as any high-profile vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blake said it’s possible that the double-stacked shipping containers on the intermodal cars were empty at the time of the derailment. In that case, they\u2019d be even easier to blow over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose containers are 8 to 10 feet tall,\u201d he said. \u201cTwo on top of each other is at least 16 to 20 feet high. They\u2019re the highest railroad cars that run on those lines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There Are Rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Wyoming\u2019s winds get especially strong, the Wyoming Department of Transportation closes major highways to all high-profile vehicles under a specific weight threshold. They can\u2019t shut down the railroads, which is why BNSF has its own rules about wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a rule about running trains during High Wind Warnings,\u201d Blake said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember the specifics, but you\u2019re not supposed to run trains in high winds. This train might have been parked at the time, but nothing can stop the wind on the prairie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day was also aware of the rules about running trains during windstorms. The stretch between Cheyenne and Laramie would be a particularly bad place to be caught, running or stopped, in a crosswind like those over the last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom Cheyenne to the top of the summit, you\u2019re gaining elevation the whole time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe railroad and I-80 go through canyons and complex terrain that can accelerate the wind. That\u2019s a very treacherous area, and we\u2019ve been in an awful pattern this week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s currently unknown whether the train was moving or stopped when it derailed, or even if wind was the primary factor behind the derailment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, taking a trainload of stacked shipping containers cars into a notoriously treacherous spot during an intense Wyoming windstorm is a dangerous endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe train probably should have never left Cheyenne, especially if those containers were empty,\u201d Blake said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Suspect Has To Be Wind<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bob Bailey, who lives near the site of the toppled cars, sent Cowboy State Daily some photos of the derailment he captured from his security camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey, who\u2019s lived in his house for 30 years, said he \u201cknows it was because of the wind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cOh, it\u2019s the wind for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the containers appeared empty, making them more susceptible to be blown over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know what trains do and I\u2019m familiar with their operation,\u201d he said. \u201cThe engine was fine. That train didn\u2019t just derail. I know it was the wind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a lot of wind yesterday, and when I checked here in Cheyenne we had gusts of 66mph as reported by NWS at the airport. Down in Colorado they had even stronger winds. https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2025\/12\/19\/freight-cars-topple-off-tracks-after-wyomings-fierce-windstorm\/ A BNSF train carrying dozens of double-stacked freight cars derailed early Friday morning northwest of Cheyenne. Although no cause has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weather","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14930,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925\/revisions\/14930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}