Last-minute Christmas shoppers shivered and travellers were left stranded as winter storms lashed the US from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon.

A MAJOR storm hit the mid-Atlantic and north-east US states with nearly 60 centimetres of windblown snow yesterday, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.

A freight train carrying hydrochloric acid and other hazardous materials derailed in a downtown Baltimore tunnel and caught fire, pushing thick, black smoke into surrounding neighbourhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.