(The following report appeared at WRCB.com on May 25, 2010.)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Nearly 24 hours after jumping its track, a CSX train still sits in pieces along Broad Street.
“This is my short cut. I came under the bridge and couldn’t get through, I thought I might as well go back home,” says William Hyatt, who lives near the derailment scene.
The train, 79 cars long, was traveling from Hamlett, North Carolina to Nashville on Sunday afternoon when it went off the tracks.
“The car starting with the 8th one in line through the 36th car, we had 28 cars derail, that’s a significant derailment,” says CSX spokesman Gary Sease.
Half of the cars were empty, but one was loaded with a powder-like substance used as fertilizer.
The accident happened so close to the Chattanooga Creek, Sease says, their first priority was to eliminate an environmental risk. “All of the powder was contained in one area, and all of it has been cleaned up at this time.”
Now work continues on the track, which was badly damaged.
At least a dozen of these spotlights are set up on sight so crews can work around the clock. Crews were here through the night Sunday night, but say the track could be clear as early as Tuesday morning.
But removing the 28 cars from the rail-yard will take much longer. So will finding a cause.
“We are still continuing to sift through the evidence at the scene to determine next steps in our investigation. We don’t have a preliminary cause at this time,” Sease says.
CSX has reported the derailment to the federal railroad administration.
There was a group of federal and state inspectors on the scene Monday to assist with the investigation.
We are told it could be another week before things are back to normal.