(The following story by Kelli Esters appeared on the Ledger-Enquirer website on March 4.)
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Five railroad cars came off the tracks at Third Avenue and Railroad Street near the TSYS campus, snarling the morning commute into Columbus Wednesday.
The 97-car train blocked the roads at Second Avenue and 20th Street, 18th Street and First Avenue and Third Avenue north of 20th Street. The roads were reopened in time for evening commuters.
The incident occurred around 6:45 a.m. as the train was headed into the Norfolk Southern Corp. yard at 1234 Sixth Ave., said Matt Townley, the local operations manager.
The sixth through the 10th cars derailed, Townley said. Two of the derailed cars were loaded with rock and the other three were empty. Crews spent most of the day cleaning up the rocks that spilled on the north side of the tracks and repairing the tracks.
It was still unclear Wednesday evening how the incident occurred, Townley said. There were no injuries. The incident is under investigation by the railroad.
Based in Norfolk, Va., the railroad operates 21,500 route lines in 22 Eastern states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, its Web site says.