(The following story by Bill Miller appeared on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website on October 9, 2009.)
CLEBURNE, Texas — Forty-four cars on a BNSF Railway train derailed Friday south of downtown Cleburne, spilling coal and closing the heavily traveled track.
No injuries were reported in the early morning derailment off South Wilhite Street, south of the city’s historic rail yards, according to reports.
City spokesman Charlie Hodges said the cars derailed about 5 a.m. Friday, dumping coal all over the rail bed. The cars were part of a 100-car train, he said.
Spokesman Joe Faust of Fort Worth-based BNSF said there were no injuries or hazardous spills. He had no immediate details on what caused the derailment.
But, Hodges said, “Indications given to the city are that track failure is a possible cause.”
Faust said the train was carrying coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin coal fields to the W.A. Parish Power Plant at Smithers Lake in Fort Bend County, 25 miles southwest of Houston.
The Texas Genco facility is a 3,000-megawatt plant that burns more than 11 million tons of coal per year, according to The Associated Press.
Hodges said the city closed three streets for cleanup: East Chambers, East Wardville and East Willingham, which all intersect with Wilhite. Those streets, he noted, are not major thoroughfares.
The rail industry has played a major role in the city’s history. Rail companies were major employers in years past in Cleburne.