(The following story by Cynthia M. Ellis appeared on The Alton Telegraph on September 22, 2009.)
GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Crews spent the majority of Tuesday cleaning up the tangle of cars from a train derailment.
Officials said that no one was injured when six cars of a Norfolk Southern train left the tracks late Monday along Missouri Avenue, between Illinois Route 3 and West Pontoon Road.
Assistant Chief Jim Snelson of the Granite City Fire Department said several of the cars that derailed about 11:30 p.m. Monday and were carrying propane ended up in a ditch. He said none of the derailed cars leaked, and none posed a hazard to the public.
Traffic was shut down on Pontoon Road and rerouted to nearby Illinois Route 3. A Fire Department spokesman said Pontoon Road was reopened to traffic about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Officials said three businesses were affected by the derailment.
“We shut them down for life-safety hazards,” Snelson said.
Witnesses reported that sparks began to fly under the train as it derailed. The train was traveling south when it derailed.
Norfolk Southern crews repaired the track where the cars derailed. The cause of the derailment remained under investigation.