(The following article by Chip Jones was posted on the Times-Dispatch website on September 24.)
RICHMOND, Va. — A CSX Corp. inspector checked a riverside rail line in Richmond’s West End last Saturday hours before 30 coal cars slid off the tracks between the James River and the Kanawha Canal, a spokeswoman said yesterday.
No problems were found at the time, Misty Skipper said from CSX’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla.
The mishap occurred late Saturday south of the Windsor Farms neighborhood.
The night before, an inch of rain, high winds and tornadoes battered the area.
Skipper said the cause of the derailment had not been determined. No damage estimate was available.
The Federal Railroad Administration, which handles rail safety, is investigating the accident, spokesman Warren Flatau said. No injuries were reported, he said, and no hazardous material was released.
The hopper cars were part of a 1.4-mile-long, 148-car coal train traveling from West Virginia to Newport News.
The accident tipped over the hoppers, dumped coal and twisted track.
The following day, a hill beside the tracks showed signs of erosion and wash-off.
Michael Kennedy, who paddled along the river with his brother to view the train wreck, said, “I think the ground was supersaturated and couldn’t take it anymore.”
By midweek, signs of the accident were still apparent on the river’s edge: Several coal hoppers remained turned over at the base of a wooded hill. More cars were tipped beside tangled track by the old canal.
Coal was piled at the east end of the accident scene.
On Wednesday afternoon, a train with about 20 partially filled cars moved slowly through the accident area.
A CSX crew operated a “tamper” machine that tamps down crushed rock or ballast under the tracks. Another machine rolled up and down the tracks, cleaning them off.
Skipper said both tracks have been back in service since late Monday, with about 20 trains a day running through the area five more than the normal daily average to make up for lost time.