Dozens of train cars carrying potash derailed in western Manitoba on Thursday morning. (Submitted by Shawn Airey)

Via Rail passengers are back on track after a 19-hour delay in Winnipeg.

The train, bound for Vancouver, was stranded when a 56-car freight train hauling potash derailed in western Manitoba.

The eastbound freight train came off the tracks 16 kilometres west of Rivers, Man., at about 9:30 a.m. CT. Early damage estimates are pegged at about $3 million.

The train was 99 cars long and all cars, save for the locomotive, contained potash, CN Rail said. Many cars were crumpled like tin cans and ripped open, scattering their loads along the tracks.

There were no injuries reported and no hazardous chemicals were on board.

'I've been on railcars and dealt with them my whole life and I would never have thought that they could squish like tin cans like that.'—Trevor Peters

Cleanup crews, using heavy machinery, worked Thursday and through the night to clear the tracks.

About 70 Via passengers, who arrived in Winnipeg at 8 a.m. local time Thursday, were scheduled to pull out again about three hours later.

They were finally on their way to the west coast at about 5:45 a.m. Friday after spending the night on the parked train.

Several of them were heading to Vancouver to take in the Olympic Games, which kick off a gala opening ceremony Friday night, including a Scottish couple on their way to see their daughter compete.

Via Rail arranged for them to catch a flight to Vancouver, instead. Other passengers still riding the rails should arrive in that city by Sunday, Via officials said.

Investigation into derailment

Although the tracks are clear of the mangled mess of train cars and spilled potash, much of the debris has simply been pushed to the side.

It must still be hauled away while investigators with Canada's Transportation Safety Board will be spending time at the scene to figure out why the derailment happened, CN Rail officials said.

Long after the scene has been returned to normal, the sounds will remain with Trevor Peters.

"I've been on railcars and dealt with them my whole life and I would never have thought that they could squish like tin cans like that," he said.

Peters works at a grain elevator not far from the derailment scene. He and a few co-workers were having coffee when they heard a huge noise and scrambled to a nearby window.

The scene left him stunned, he said.

"Like, just total, total shock — just seeing everything going on. It was crazy," Peters said. "Lots of banging and noises banging everywhere, so it was something, something else.

"There's a little shack there [and] everything was just disappeared and gone."

Rivers is located about 250 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.