(The following Associated Press article was posted on the Baxter Bulletin website on August 31.)
WYNNE, Ark. — While a train derailment caused no serious damage or injuries, it blanketed this town with coal dust from the spilled load.
Trains moved through Wynne again early Friday after 11 cars derailed in the middle of town Thursday night, and 540 tons of coal landed on business and residential lawns.
“It didn’t do any real damage to the property except for the dust and the real bad soot,” said Brenda St. Clair, whose house backs up to the railroad tracks. “I guess our fence got it, but that’s about it.”
St. Clair said coal dust coated her flowers and the trampoline she keeps in the back yard for grandchildren. Even the family’s pet ducks, Stinky 1 and Stinky 2, were covered by the fallout.
“You walk outside and your feet and your hands are just covered,” St. Clair said. “It’s just a mess.”
Mark Davis, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman, said he expected cleanup to take four or five days.
“We will work with each homeowner on a case-by-case basis in making sure we return their property to the way it was prior to the derailment,” Davis said.
The 124-car train was traveling from Wyoming to south of Atlanta when the cars derailed, Davis said. Six of the cars, each carrying about 90 tons of coal, overturned. Five others jumped the tracks but stayed upright. Davis said the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
About 25 people were evacuated after the derailment as a precaution, but they were allowed to return home Friday morning.
Heidi Brewington, assistant manager at Backstreet Florist, said the business was closing early for the Labor Day weekend, after the railroad told employees they’d have to leave while workers removed the cars and cleaned up the area Friday.
She said the railroad cars came to rest 15 or 20 feet from the back of the florist shop.