A train wreck that spilled Boeing 737 fuselages has become a destination for curious rafters on the Lower Clark Fork River in Montana.

It could be Tuesday before the giant fuselages are removed from the river, as hot weather and tough terrain have slowed cleanup after a Thursday derailment that tossed three fuselages into the water. The wreck has turned into a scenic stop along a popular rafting route where the wide canyon slows and lets people get a good look.

"It's kind of a surreal thing that comes around the corner. You would never expect it," said Joshua Flanagan, owner of Spokane-based rafting company Wiley E. Waters. The plane parts were en route to Boeing's Renton, Wash., plant from Wichita, Kan., when 19 Montana Rail Link freight cars derailed and lost the expensive cargo west of Missoula. There were six fuselages in total, but the others luckily fell near the tracks above. Crews reopened the railroad line Saturday night, but recovering the large parts from the river is "going considerably slower than we hoped," Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost told the Daily News. "By day’s end, we will be lucky to get one up from the river."

It’s still not clear what caused the derailment; it is under investigation. The rail company had another derailment in September 2013 about 20 miles away, when 23 cars derailed while carrying cargo such as sugar and wood chips, according to KECI-TV.

A crew of about 50 is working to remove the parts from the river. They brought heavy equipment in from Washington and Montana to hoist them up, but the steep embankment complicates recovery. The train was also carrying soybeans and denatured alcohol, according to the Missoulian, but none of that spilled.

Frost added that none of the Boeing parts are toxic to the river, and they are not a danger to rafters. The Forest Service is allowing rafters to float the river as long as they keep to one side of the waterway. Flanagan’s rafting business is fielding more calls from customers who want to see the fuselages before crews remove them. "I think people are really anxious to see this unique sight," Flanagan said. The fuselages are visible just before the last rapid on Flanagan’s route. nhensley@nydailynews.com. Follow me on Twitter: @nkhensley

Montana Rail Link crews on Sunday began cleaning up debris from an embankment below the site of last week’s train derailment near Fish Creek, including three aircraft fuselages that went into the Clark Fork River. MRL had cleared the area around the tracks and reopened the rail line to train traffic Saturday.

Company spokeswoman Lynda Frost said work started about 7 a.m. Sunday to pull the Boeing Co. 737 fuselages and train cars out of the water and up the embankment. MRL is using eight pieces of heavy machinery to pull the fuselages up the hill with cables. The cleanup, originally expected to be completed by the end of Sunday or early Monday, will likely continue through Tuesday, Frost said. “It’s taking longer than we had originally anticipated,” she said.

MRL stopped train traffic on the line for about 12 hours Sunday during the cleanup, and similar shutdowns are likely as work proceeds. Nineteen train cars derailed about 10 miles west of Alberton at 4 p.m. Thursday. Thirteen cars were carrying aircraft components, soybeans and denatured alcohol, and six were empty. While no alcohol leaked and no soybeans spilled, three cars with 737 fuselages went into the river, Frost said. No one was injured in the derailment, the cause of which remains under investigation.

Boeing spokeswoman Lynn Steinberg said the seven cars of aircraft components included six 737 fuselages, as well as parts for 747s and 777s. The components were being transported from a production facility in Wichita, Kansas, to a Boeing assembly plant in Renton, Washington. Steinberg declined to give a value for the aircraft components. A Boeing team was on the scene Friday to determine the status of the components and work with MRL to retrieve them; it had not yet issued a full evaluation. Until that evaluation is completed, Steinberg said, it is unknown whether any of the parts will still be usable. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said there are no plans to close the Clark Fork during the cleanup, but brief delays could occur in the area when the 737 fuselages and other parts are moved. One such delay occurred about 1 p.m. Sunday, when floaters were held up about half an hour, FWP spokeswoman Christine Oschell said. "It's possible there will be other brief delays on the river," she added. MRL has been working with FWP and the Whitewater Rescue Institute to keep the river open during the cleanup; members of the institute are on the river informing floaters of what happened and watching for hazards, and they will remain there throughout the cleanup. "We intend to keep the river open unless we feel that there is a safety concern," Oschell said. Zoo Town Surfers owner Jason Shreder said he was upset by FWP's decision Friday to close the Clark Fork in the area of the derailment — a decision the agency reversed only a few hours later. Especially since I had seen the adequate safety measures they put in place there, it's good they kept it open.