WAVELAND, Miss. — Investigators with the Federal Railroad Administration said Monday it could take weeks or even months before they determine what caused a CSX train to derail on Sunday, the (Biloxi, Miss.) Sun Herald reported.
Railroad repair crews worked through the night to clear and repair the railroad tracks after 24 of the train’s 102 cars derailed at 3:49 p.m. near a residential area off Nicholson Avenue. No one was injured in the accident.
Investigators say their work will begin with an examination of the train’s event recorder, which records details such as the train’s speed and where and when the engineer applied the brakes and throttle. Investigators also will examine railroad cars and tracks, check mechanical inspection records and interview the train’s crew members.
The derailed cars were all positioned in the middle of the train, which likely rules out vandalism or a track defect as a cause of the accident, authorities said Monday.
Florida-based CSX sent an emergency response team to the scene to assist with the cleanup.
On Sunday, Waveland residents reported hearing a crashing noise, followed by a shrill squeal of the train’s brakes. “It sounded like the train hit something,” said Earline Ruhr, who lives near the accident site. “It sounded terrible.”
Power was cut temporarily to a few hundred homes near the accident.
“It wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been,” Waveland Mayor Tommy Longo said. “We took no chances, though, and the primary thing to do was to ensure the safety of the citizens.”
The westbound CSX train was headed to New Orleans from Mobile, authorities said, and was mostly empty, except for a few cars which remained on the tracks. Of the 24 cars that derailed, however, 11 were tankers that normally would contain hazardous materials. Those tankers were empty Sunday.
Repair crews worked Sunday night and Monday to clear cars and repair 900 feet of track damaged in the accident. The line reopened to rail traffic on Monday afternoon.