(The Associated Press circulated the following article on August 10.)
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Eleven cars of a CSX Corp. freight train hauling rocks and gravel derailed while passing through the city, damaging a track, downing some power lines and spilling several cubic yards of cargo, authorities said.
The train, which consisted of 40 cars and three engines, derailed at 4:50 p.m. EDT Tuesday while en route from Thornton, Ill., to Grand Rapids.
Police Capt. Mark Reece told The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph that hot weather may have caused a switch to malfunction, resulting in the accident.
But Kim Skorniak, a spokeswoman for Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX, said Wednesday the rail company won’t know the reason until inspectors have completed their investigation.
The derailment occurred where there are two side-by-side tracks, damaging the track on which the train was traveling and blocking the other, Skorniak said. The undamaged track was cleared by Wednesday.
It will be several days before repairs to the damaged track are completed and it is reopened, she said.