(The following story by Pam Rigaux appeared on the News-Post website on June 8.)
POINT OF ROCKS, Md. — A freight train heading east on the rail line that carries the Brunswick MARC trains derailed Saturday afternoon.
No one was hurt in the derailment, though one firefighter suffered minor injuries while responding, said Mike Dmuchowski, spokesman for the county’s Division of Fire and Rescue Services.
Passenger trains are not likely to be affected by any closures, said Jo Greene, director of communications for the Maryland Transit Administration.
“CSX will let us know by (today), or (if a track is down) we may even use a single track,” she said.
Two of the CSX train’s 88 freight cars derailed and ended up on their sides. They were carrying about a dozen new vehicles, Dmuchowski said. Two other freight cars were also damaged.
The train’s crew had picked up the cargo in Cumberland and was headed east to Baltimore, according to Dmuchowski.
The amount of damage and a cause for the derailment were not available Saturday.
CSX will conduct an investigation, Dmuchowski said, though it’s possible the heat may have been a factor.
“We’ve had heat affect the rails in the past,” he said. “That will be up to CSX to determine.”
The C&O Canal runs parallel to the Point of Rocks station. CSX officials checked the canal to make sure it was not contaminated, said Ed Arnold, the assistant chief of Carroll Manor Fire and Rescue Company, which responded to the call about 2:30 p.m.
Nothing was found in the canal and rescue personnel began wrapping up within an hour and 15 minutes, said Steve Shook of Carroll Manor Fire and Rescue Company.
“(The freight cars) came loose, overturned, and they dragged them a little bit,” Shook said. “The accident happened on the line about a mile back and it’s when they got here, they came loose. Between Brunswick, Jefferson, Point of Rocks and Carroll Manor, we’ve got the most railroads in the county. It’s a very busy track.”