Railroad spokesman Joe Faust told local news outlet KRQE that the incident, which involved 30 cars, occurred at about 4.45pm local time near Prewitt.

No injuries were reported.

It is not clear if the train was carrying full coal loads.

Various earlier reports indicated the lost cars were full but Faust reportedly told the station they were empty.

The double-track route is a main transcontinental rail route for BNSF, stretching from Chicago and Texas to the west coast and it has high levels of daily traffic.

Wreckage on the eastbound and westbound tracks was being cleared Friday evening.

It was not known at press time if the line was reopened.

Another BNSF train derailed last month in Washington and the incident also blocked a main line for an unknown length of time.

Thirty cars of a 125-car train overturned along the Columbia River Gorge near Pasco, Franklin County.

The train was loaded with Powder River Basin coal and was headed for British Columbia, Canada.

BNSF operates in 28 US states and two Canadian provinces.

It and Union Pacific are the two largest shippers for the nation’s western coalfields.