Back on April 2nd of 2023, Montana had an unfortunate train accident where 25 rail cars fell off the tracks. The crash happened near Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort west of St. Regis on Sunday afternoon.
Montana Rail Link confirmed that no one was hurt during the accident and no hazardous materials were spilled into the water on early Sunday morning. However, lots of cases of Coors Light and Blue Moon beers were on board the rail cars that ended up littering the banks of the river. Some dropped all the way into the water in an area where the railroad tracks run between the base of the mountain and the river.
“It’s a terrible spot to get in and out of,” Bill Naegeli, manager for Sanders County Disaster and Emergency Services, said of the derailment on the Clark Fork River. “The biggest issue is the cars derailed inside the tunnel” with little clearance.
Luckily there were lots of eager volunteer anglers willing to go out and do some beer fishing that weekend and it helped with the cleanup effort. Later in the day, Montana officials set up a floating boom to snag the remaining beer and cardboard from the river. Interestingly enough, this wasn't the first time that Montana officials had to experience fishing for beer from the Clark Fork River, as it happened near the same spot back in 1999.
