(The following story by Doyle Murphy appeared on the Times Herald-Record website on November 8.)
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — A train derailed this afternoon and blocked traffic on Wisner Avenue into the evening.
A Norfolk Southern railroad official said the train was leaving the yard at Rowley Building Products, between North and Cottage streets, after picking up two empty cars. The official said they’re still investigating and wouldn’t speculate about why the train derailed.
Railroad workers walked around the cars and examined a section of track that had snapped on the northern edge of the road.
One of the train’s wheels had ripped a gash in the asphalt just past the break and a box car stopped in the middle of Wisner.
That stretch of the tracks belongs to Strober Building Supply, the Brooklyn-based company that bought Rowley last year.
Middletown and Mechanicstown firefighters responded, and Middletown Chief Sam Barone said no one was injured.