6:55 p.m. update from TriMet: "We have been cleared to resume MAX Blue/Green service to the Lloyd Center platform. The incident train was recently moved and is now in route to our Ruby Junction facility. Crews have completed their inspection of the track and switch east of the 13th and Holladay intersection and a test train has been sent through the area."
A slow-moving MAX train reportedly carrying more than 150 people derailed Friday in Northeast Portland's Lloyd District, sending one person to the hospital with minor injuries and causing major systemwide delays for light-rail riders during the evening commute.
About 1:45 p.m., the westbound train was entering the Lloyd Center Station when a wheel set on the trailing car lifted off the track, said TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt. Crews "rerailed" the train with the help of hydraulics and heavy machinery shortly after 5 p.m.
Although TriMet originally thought no one was injured, Harry Saporta, TriMet's executive for safety security who was at the scene, said it turned out that one rider was injured and taken to the hospital.
Also, a rider named Toby Hadd, who was traveling from Clackamas to his niece's birthday party at the Lloyd Center, said the 50-ton train car was full with about 150 riders when it went off the track. Hadd said he could felt the train leave the rails with a jerk.
"We just popped open the door and all of us started getting out," he said.
Reconstruction of a rail switch in the area has already caused significant disruptions in service this week. The derailment will only create more of a headache for east-west commuters, who will now be required to take shuttle buses between the Rose Quarter and Hollywood transit centers.
3:50 p.m.: TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said the train had just switched tracks as it approached the Lloyd Center station. Because of rail construction east of the stop, the train was scheduled to pick up riders and then switch back to the eastbound tracks.
She said the rider taken to the hospital suffered minor injuries.
4:05 p.m.: TriMet crews have started the long laborious process of "rerailing" the train car with the help of large truck.
4:11 p.m.: Saporta said it appears the front car of the train made it through the switch without a problem, but the rear car "appears to have climbed up and off the rails, and we're not really sure why that's happening."
He said inspectors are looking at a number of possible causes. "We're looking at the cars themselves," he said. "We're also looking at the rails and the condition of the rails. We're looking at the condition of the switches."
After deferring millions of dollars dollars in rail maintenance and rebuilding during the Great Recession, TriMet plans to spend $9.5 million on replacing 21 deteriorating rail switches, many of which have malfunctioned and caused repeated service meltdowns in recent years, according to maintenance logs and other records obtained through a public records request by The Oregonian.
Three of those switches are in the Lloyd District. Bob Nelson, TriMet's assistant general manager, said the switch involved in the derailment is not the replacement schedule.
5:15 p.m.: Nelson said the switch was being manually operated with a lever during the week's nearby construction. TriMet's rail switches are typically automated with an electronic signaling system connected to each train.
5:20 p.m.: The latest from TriMet: "Efforts are progressing. TriMet crews have the train re-railed. Crews are now inspecting both the vehicle and rail for any potential damage. Shuttle bus limits are being extended due to a mechanical issue with the elevators at Hollywood TC. Shuttles now serving platforms between Rose Quarter and NE 60th Avenue."
The scene at Hollywood Transit Center during the evening commute:
Check back for more details as they become available.
-- Joseph Rose