(The Southern Illinoisan posted the following story by Christi Mathis on its website on Febraury 10.)
PINCKNEYVILLE — A second train has derailed in Perry County, less than 24 hours after a train loaded with hazardous chemicals displaced 1,000 Tamaroa area residents.
A single car of Amtrak’s City of New Orleans train 59 derailed at about 4 a.m. Monday. The car that derailed was a mail car that did not carry passengers, and the car remained upright on the track, said Amtrak spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon.
There were no injuries and no serious problems reported in the incident, which happened an eighth of a mile north of the Grant Street crossing at the west edge of Pinckneyville.
Monday’s derailment was linked to the Sunday derailment in Tamaroa, because Amtrak usually doesn’t route its trains along the Pinckneyville line. The railroad was only doing so because the Tamaroa line of the Canadian National Railroad was still closed by the previous derailment.
The Amtrak was carrying 143 passengers and crew and had departed from Chicago about 8 p.m. Sunday, bound for New Orleans. The mail car at the very back of the train derailed, Cantillon said. None of the sleeper or coach cars left the track. The baggage car was connected to a luggage car in such a way, Cantillon said, that it was quicker and easier to uncouple both cars and leave them behind so passengers could resume their journey.
“The train was already running late because it had to go around the other wreck,” Cantillon said. “Because of the detour, two to three hours was added to the City of New Orleans schedule.”
Crews removed the remaining cars from the track to an adjacent area later in the day. Cantillon said railroad officials have been unable to determine the cause of the derailment and are continuing to investigate.
Northbound trains were re-routed to still another line and railroad officials will be assessing the Pinckneyville track to determine how the railway can best continue to run its routes.
“It remains to be seen if we’ll use this track,” Cantillon said.
The Tamaroa derailment has also altered Amtrak’s Carbondale to Chicago 391 and 392 runs. While the Tamaroa line remains blocked, Amtrak passengers will travel from Carbondale to Champaign by bus and then via train to Chicago. Cantillon said this adds about 30 to 60 minutes to the usual train trip.
Cantillon recommended that people call (800) USA-RAIL to get the most current information on the train schedules and routes.