A locomotive and two cargo cars of a freight train derailed near Union Station in Portland Saturday. Damage to the tracks means all rail traffic through Union Station is halted for now. (Photo by Austin De Dios / The Oregonian)

All rail traffic along the major rail line that runs past Portland’s Union Station has been halted after a freight train derailed near the west end of the Steel Bridge early Saturday afternoon, a Union Pacific Railroad official said.

No one was injured, Portland Fire & Rescue officials said. The train was transporting grain, they said.

The train remained upright, but a locomotive and two cargo cars derailed, Union Pacific’s senior manager of communications, Mike Jaixen, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Railroad officials are on site determining what must be done to repair the damage to the rails, Jaixen said. “All train traffic in the area is held up while we’re investigating what occurred and what it’s going to take to get the tracks open up again.”

Traffic #ALERT We’re onscene with @PDXFire after a freight locomotive derailed near Union Station. Traffic blocked on NW Naito Pkwy between NW Everett St and NW Nicolai St. No reported injuries or HAZMAT issues. #pdxtraffic pic.twitter.com/WvuQKMO6xh

Greg Cain, a resident of an apartment building that faces the tracks, said what appeared to be a train wheel fell off one of the rear cars as it passed over the bridge. The broken car was dragged across the bridge and down into the yard where it eventually stopped, creating “an earth rumbling screech,” he said.

The train was going very slow, and due to its great length, it was unlikely that the engineer was able to hear the sound, Cain said. Once it crossed over into the asphalt, the train car began ripping it up and shaking violently.

“It’s how I imagine glaciers colliding would sound like,” Cain said.

Some cars of a Union Pacific freight train came off the tracks just after the train crossed Portland's Steel Bridge into downtown Portland on Saturday.

Union Pacific Railroad owns and maintains the rail line in that area as well as the train that derailed, Jaixen said. Federal Railroad Administration officials are likely to be involved in the investigation, he said.

Damage to the train tracks will have to be repaired and Union Pacific officials are still working to determine what occurred and what repairs must be made, a company official said.

– Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; (503) 319-9744

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com

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