(The following article by Becky Purser was posted on the Macon Telegraph website on November 23.)
ELKO, Ga. — A Norfolk Southern Railway train headed south pulling 62 cars loaded with automobiles derailed just south of Elko early Monday.
Neither the conductor nor the engineer, the only people on board, were injured in the 5:45 a.m. derailment in extreme south Houston County near the Dooly County line, said Susan Terpay, a Norfolk Southern Railway spokeswoman.
In all, 30 of the rail cars, carrying 10 to 15 automobiles each, derailed starting at car No. 18, she said.
All 30 derailed cars were on their sides early Monday, she said. The derailment occurred in a very rural area of the county.
Railroad crews and private contractors were expected to work “through the night and around the clock” to reopen the railroad line, which is the main route from Macon to Valdosta to Jacksonville, Fla., Terpay said.
In all, about 1,600 feet of track was expected to be repaired before the line can reopen, which may happen sometime today, Terpay said.
Terpay declined to release damage estimates from the train derailment, saying that the estimates are “propriety” information.
She also declined to release the name of the company that owns the automobiles, also saying that was confidential customer information. She said she did not know what type of automobiles were on the train headed for Jacksonville, Fla.
Why the train derailed was not known late Monday, but company investigators are on site, Terpay said.
The first priority, Terpay said, is to get the railcars out of the area, the tracks repaired and line reopened for train traffic, she said.
Outside contractors were brought in with heavy cranes to lift the railcars, Terpay said.
Railcars that can be moved by rail will be placed back on the tracks and moved that way, while others too damaged will be hauled away, she said.
The train was powered by three locomotives.