(The following story by Steve Visser appeared on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website on July 11.)
ATLANTA — A Norfolk-Southern train derailed on Buford Highway Wednesday night but officials were able to reopen all lanes on the busy thoroughfare early this morning.
DOT officials confirmed shortly before 6 a.m. that all lanes on Buford Highway just south of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and north of I-285, were open. Gwinnett Police closed a small section of the road between Weaver Way and Button Gwinnett Drive Wednesday night.
“It is just a short distance of road,” said Lt. Tommy Rutledge, spokesman for the Gwinnett fire department .
Three refrigerated cars derailed, with two cars tipping over on a slow-speed side track that crossed the highway, causing one of them to toss frozen food onto the roadway, Rutledge said. “It was primarily potatoes,” Rutledge said. “It wasn’t very much.”
There was some damage to Buford Highway and one railway employee had to leap from the train to avoid being injured,” Rutledge said. The man was unharmed.
Norfolk-Southern is investigating the cause of the wreck. The railroad company has a number of side tracks in the area, called the Norfolk-Southern Industrial District, at which its trains pick up cars of cargo.