(The following story by Wes Bunch appeared on the Kingsport Times-News website on October 2, 2009.)
DUFFIELD, Tenn. — A Norfolk Southern train traveling through the Duffield area spilled what could be up to 100 tons of coal Thursday along a seven-mile stretch of railroad near Natural Tunnel State Park.
The spilled occurred when a set of trucks, or wheels, underneath one of the mile-long train’s 99 cars came loose, ripping the bottom out of the car and spilling the coal along a stretch of the railroad.
A spokesman for Norfolk Southern said he was not exactly sure how much of the coal spilled out of the damaged car.
“I don’t know whether the entire load has spilled out of it or not,” said Robin Chatman of Norfolk Southern corporate communications. “It sounds like it may have since it ripped the bottom out of it.”
Chatman said each car can hold up to 100 tons of coal.
The train’s entire weight was 14,452 tons.
The spill happened about 7 a.m. as the train passed through the Duffield area.
According to Scott County officials, the train began losing coal at the Duffield railroad overpass.
From there it continued approximately seven miles before coming to a stop in Glenita, about a half-mile east of State Route 812 near Natural Tunnel State Park.
No one was hurt by the spill, and no personal property was impacted, Chatman said, although several private roads and driveways that crossed the tracks were temporarily covered.
Chatman said contractors arrived on the scene about 1 p.m. and had the track cleared with the use of a sweeper machine by 3:30 p.m.
Cleanup crews hoped to have the route reopened by 8 p.m.
The train was loaded at Lee County’s Lone Mountain Processing facility in Benedict and was headed to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s John Sevier Fossil Plant near Rogersville.