(The Associated Press circulated the following story on January 7.)
APOLLO, Pa. — Crews removed freight cars from a train that derailed, and the cleanup of diesel fuel from a river continued Tuesday, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said.
Three lead locomotives and 16 freight cars, all carrying grain, derailed about 6 a.m. Monday. The remainder of the 107-car train, which was traveling from Conway to Altoona, including several carrying hazardous materials, remained on the tracks and didn’t spill, said the spokesman, Rudy Husband.
The tracks were entirely cleared of cars, but Husband said investigators on Tuesday still hadn’t determined what caused the train to derail in Bell Township, Westmoreland County, about a mile up river from Apollo and 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Crews continued to clean up about 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled from the locomotive into the Kiskiminetas River, Husband said.
The rail line was expected to reopen Wednesday. None of the railroad’s customers will be affected while the tracks are closed because the train derailed on a secondary route, and freight customers can be reached by other lines, Husband said.
The train’s two-man crew suffered only minor injuries.