(The following article by Danielle Furfaro was posted on the Albany Times-Union website on October 13.)
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A stretch of Altamont Avenue was shut down for more than seven hours Thursday after a freight train derailed in the city, spilling tons of rock salt on the tracks.
The train tipped over on the portion of tracks near Altamont and Chrisler avenues. No one was injured in the incident, according to Schenectady Assistant Fire Chief Michael DellaRocco.
Passenger trains do not use the tracks, so service was not affected.
Just before 9 a.m., six train cars left the track, five of them toppling onto their side, said Robert Sullivan, a spokesman for CSX Transportation, the company that owns the tracks and the train.
“We’re just glad it was rock salt, not some hazardous material,” DellaRocco said. All other local CSX traffic has been halted during the cleanup, which Sullivan expects to be completed today.
The train was carrying the salt from Troy to Rotterdam.
Sullivan said CSX is investigating the accident. He could not say how long it would be before a cause is determined. The tracks were slick with rain at the time of the incident.