Nov. 20--A freight train came to a halt in downtown Plainfield on Thursday morning, blocking multiple crossings and causing commuter chaos.
The freight train, operated by CN, stalled on the tracks about 6:30 a.m., cutting off crossings at Lockport Street and Renwick Road east of U.S. Route 30, police Chief John Konopek said.
The train was cleared just after 9 a.m., he said.
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 buses were thrown into disarray by the stall, according to spokesman Tom Hernandez.
"It was blocking crossings through the downtown," he said. "We had kids standing out in 15-degree weather waiting for the bus."
Buses were ultimately rerouted, with some middle schoolers arriving up to 30 minutes late to school, Hernandez said.
Konopek said late Thursday morning that the town was still waiting for clarification from CN regarding why the train stopped.
"They're not doing a very good job of getting back to us," he said.
Konopek said he was hearing two reasons for the stall.
One had to do with a mechanical problem, while the other involved a crew reaching its regulated shift time limit and having to stop the train until another crew arrived to replace them.
Konopek said semitrailer drivers also have set shift limits, but "when they hit their limit, they don't just stop their truck in the road."
He said CN stopping its long freight trains and blocking Plainfield crossings is a regular occurrence.
Such stops can impact police and emergency service response times, Konopek said.
A train stopped a few months ago in town, blocking five or six crossings, he said.
"It effectively splits our town in half," Konopek said.
CN representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"We're starting to get frustrated," Konopek said.
