Collision of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Freight Train and 19 Stationary Railcars Bettendorf, Iowa (2009)

On July 14, 2009, about 2:08 a.m., central daylight time, southbound Dakota,
Minnesota & Eastern Railroad freight train B61-13 went into Bettendorf Yard in Bettendorf,
Iowa, due to a misaligned switch and struck 19 stationary railcars. The impact fatally injured the
locomotive engineer and the conductor. There were no wayside signals or other devices to
convey the position of the hand-operated switch on the main track leading into the north yard
sufficiently in advance to allow the approaching train to stop. The train was moving at the
authorized speed of 25 mph and was operating under valid track warrant authority. Track
warrants are authorizations issued by a dispatcherfor a train to occupy a certain segment of track
for a certain period of time. Track warrant authority is obtained and released through
communication between train crews and the dispatcher.