(The following report appeared on the Munster Times website on January 3.)
PORTAGE, Ind. — What made a locomotive and 10 cars carrying freight jump the tracks Dec. 21 is still under investigation.
Rudy Husband, spokesman for Norfolk Southern railroad, said Wednesday that a determination had not yet been made as to what caused the derailment early that Friday morning.
Ten cars of the 29-car train derailed along with the third of three engines, not only causing a delay in commuter traffic, but in the delivery of Christmas presents. No one was injured in the incident.
The train, traveling from Secaucus, N.J., derailed just east of the Ind. 249 bridge entering U.S. Steel and north of U.S. 12. It was hauling 39 UPS containers. Hundreds of workers went to the site after the derailment to claim the packages and to get them to their destination.