(The Associated Press distributed the following article on June 19.)
CUMBERLAND, Md. — A head-on collision today between two CSX freight trains in a rail yard near Cumberland left three crew members with non- life-threatening injuries, the company said.
Four cars and a locomotive derailed in the 4:33 p.m. crash, CSX spokesman Daniel Murphy said. The wreckage blocked the way in and out of the Cumberland terminal, a major transfer point for freight moving on CSX between the East Coast and the Midwest, Murphy said.
He said he didn’t know how long the clean-up would take.
The derailments were on a 25-car train carrying cargo in shipping containers from Cumberland to Portsmouth, Va., Murphy said. Those containers typically carry consumer electronics, other consumer goods and time-sensitive freight such as fruit, vegetables and parcels, he said.
The other train, 64 cars long, was carrying new cars from Philadelphia to Cincinnati, Murphy said.
CSX Corp., based in Jacksonville, Fla., operates the largest rail system in the eastern United States.