(The following story by Anna L. Mallory appeared on the Roanoke Times website on April 26, 2009.)
ROANOKE, Va. — Cleanup crews were working Saturday on a stretch of train track in Eagle Rock where 23 train cars derailed Friday afternoon, a spokesman for CSX said Saturday.
Gary Sease said he expects the track will be operational by “pretty late” Saturday night or “definitely this weekend.”
Crews are rebuilding the track now. The final train car was removed from the track about 10 a.m., he said.
The derailment occurred just west of the James Street Bridge, which crosses the James River and connects U.S. 220 with Virginia 43.
Virginia 43 was still closed to traffic Saturday near the accident site, the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The train cars, which were going from Danville, W.Va., to Newport News, carried coal. No one was injured.
Investigators with CSX still don’t know what caused the crash, Sease said.
Crews are reviewing the train cars at the site now, but he said it could be a few days, or even up to two weeks to find the cause.
“They take their time with it,” he said.