CHESTER Mont. – A survivor of the Empire Builder derailment said it was like “extreme turbulence on a plane.” Megan Vandervest, of Minneapolis, was napping in the first car, a coach. She was jolted awake. But the car behind hers was tilted. The three cars farther back had completely fallen off the tracks and were detached from the train. In all, eight of 10 passenger cars derailed. Vandervest’s account suggests a mechanical problem in the third car, perhaps in wheel bearings. The locomotives did not derail, Nor did a baggage car or the coach in which Vandervest was riding or the coach behind hers.. Within hours, a Washington-based Amtrak go-team and also a National Transportation Safety Board go-team were in Joplin to sort out what went wrong.
Front end intact. Locomotives and a baggage car and a coach remained on trails while everything behind disconnected and derailed. This view is from U.S. Hjghway 2.