DIX, NEBRASKA – Sunday, February 9 seemed like a normal day for local airplane enthusiast and pilot, Jim Wertelka. Wertelka and his co-pilot left the Torrington airport and went on a short trip in Wertelka’s authentic replica of a Nieubport 17, the same type of plane used in WWI. The rare build took the Torrington man over ten years to construct. 

As Wertelka was flying, he noticed a black plume of smoke coming from the ground and as he got closer to the location, Wertelka noticed a train had derailed, sending smoke and other debris into the atmosphere. Wertelka had his co-pilot take photos as he maneuvered the plane closer to the deconstruction. 

According to the news affiliate KNOP News 2 in North Platte, several area fire departments responded to a train derailment west of Dix, Nebraska on highway 30 Sunday morning when a call reporting the derailment came in just before 7 a.m. The news station further reports, according to the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office, the train derailed and then caught on fire. An additional report from News Channel Nebraska indicated the derailment captured by Wertelka was the first of two train derailments on Sunday involved the Union Pacific company.

“The first derailment happened west of Dix, Neb., early Sunday morning, leading to power outages across western Cheyenne County and eastern Kimball County. According to authorities, approximately 60 double-stacked storage containers carrying dry goods derailed, with several other cars remaining on the tracks, blocking the railroad crossing at Kimball County Road 55,” News Channel Nebraska said. “A second derailment occurred at 10:30 a.m. east of North Platte, near Highway 30 at the North Airport Road railroad crossing. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, 25 train cars carrying corn derailed, blocking the main Union Pacific line, which consists of three sets of tracks.”

There have been no reports of injury with either derailment and investigations continue into both derailments.