(The Associated Press circulated the following on November 2.)
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — About 40 freight rail cars were scattered along a CSX Transportation track early today after a derailment Thursday night in a suburb north of Nashville. No injuries have been reported.
Several fire engines were dispatched to the scene, but were recalled after officials determined no hazardous cargo was leaking from the overturned tankers and bulk containers.
An immediate concern was cars carrying alcohol, but a railroad team and local officials quickly determined none were leaking and there was no fire danger.
“What that’s going to do for us is take our biggest hazard away, the tanker cars that contained the alcohol, and get it away from the scene,” said Jim Norman, a district fire chief. “So now we’re clear of that and it lowers our hazard tremendously.”
Cranes have been brought in to begin setting the cars upright.
“It’s going to be a huge task to do the recovery and the cleanup,” Goodlettsville City Manager Jim Thomas told WSMV-TV.
There are homes within 500 yards of the derailment, but no evacuations were necessary after the accident shortly before midnight, officials said.
By dawn, rail cars still on the tracks were being moved away so work could begin to clear the wreckage.
CSX Transportation, which operates tracks in the Nashville area, did not immediately return calls.