(The following article by Andy Humbles appeared on the Tennessean website on August 29.)
NASHVILLE — Officials evacuated between 600 and 700 people from their homes and businesses yesterday afternoon after a train with propane tank cars derailed in Watertown.
Of the seven cars that officials said went off the tracks, none overturned, said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Kurt Pickering. Two of the cars carried propane and one suffered damage, but inspectors said it did not leak after the derailment, Pickering reported.
No injuries were reported.
Pickering said the evacuation was lifted about 5 p.m., after the propane tank cars had been inspected, put back on the rails and pulled away from the site into an unpopulated area that was secured by police.
Workers were trying to fix the damaged track late yesterday. Craig Wade, Nashville and Eastern Railroad vice president and general manager, said repairs should be completed by this afternoon. Wade said the track came apart after the train derailed.
Nashville and Eastern owns the rail line and the train.
Wade said officials were still trying to determine the cause of the accident.
Once the track is repaired, the propane tank cars will be inspected once more and, if the cars were unharmed, the train will continue on to its destination, Pickering said.
Those evacuated were within a quarter-mile to half-mile radius of the derailment, which occurred near the intersection of East Main Street and U.S. 70 in Watertown.
About two trains come through the crossing at East Main Street per day, usually at a speed of 20-25 mph, according to the Web site of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Safety Analysis.
Two churches and a community center were set up as shelters, officials said.
In 1978 a train carrying propane exploded in Waverly, Tenn., after it had derailed, killing 16 people and injuring many more.
”I believe what was learned at Waverly was to make any mistake on the side of caution,” Pickering said.
”Nobody was expecting those cars to explode, but they did. As a precaution, we prepare for the worst-case scenario, and propane does explode.”