(The News-Sun posted the following story by Barry Foster on its website on August 26.)
SEBRING, Fla. — The warning lights continued to flash but a portion of County Road 17 remained closed Saturday as crews from the South Central Florida Railroad worked to fix the crossing just north of DeSoto City.
A handful of boxcars jumped the track at the intersection in the pre-dawn hours Friday.
There were no injuries reported, however, the careening cars full of fertilizer did take out one of the railroad signals and tore up a section of rails extending as much as 50 yards southward down the line.
The accident occurred after the southbound freight picked up a number of cars from the Sebring interchange with the CSX Railroad. The 25-car train then headed toward Clewiston. When it reached the DeSoto City area, a half dozen jumped the track.
So far it is unclear what caused the derailment.
The six boxcars, five of which were loaded with calcium silicate, a fertilizer product, either simply came off the rails, or tipped over on their sides.
There was only a slight spill of material. Officials of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the material is not hazardous.
“The material does not present a threat to public safety,” said Highlands County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Sgt. Jamie Casey.
Workers at the scene refused to discuss the situation, directing all inquiries to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
Repeated calls to the South Central Florida Express spokeswoman Susan Conley were not returned.
By late Friday morning a crane was at the scene and workers were preparing to remove the derailed cars.
Formerly known as the South Central Florida Railway, the line was purchased in 1994 by the United States Sugar Corporation, which also is its largest customer.
The magazine Railway Age described SCFE as “Florida’s largest and busiest shortline railroad.”
The line begins in Fort Pierce, continues around Lake Okeechobee and back to Sebring. The route carries trains past numerous sugar mills, truck farms and cattle ranches.
In addition to sugar products, the line hauls all kinds of fertilizers, rolled paper, farm equipment and liquid petroleum gas among other goods.
The line’s worst derailment probably was the September 2000 incident when a three locomotive, 15-car South Central Florida Express train carrying potash and sugar slammed into a pair of parked cargo trains near Belle Glade.
The accident was blamed on an incorrectly set switch, which diverted the northbound freight onto a siding where the other trains had been parked.
The crash reportedly caused one of the locomotives to burst into flames.
A conductor and an engineer were hurt in that mishap and the area was evacuated for a time.