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Train derailments in Decatur, Limestone
By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Staff Writer
eric@decaturdaily.com · 340-2435
Two area train derailments, 22 miles apart and in the space of three hours, do not appear to be related, according to a CSX spokesman.
Neither derailment resulted in injuries.
The Limestone County derailment took place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday just off Mooresville Road. The southbound train carried grain. It started in Princeton, Ind., and was bound for Oglethorpe, Ga. It consisted of two locomotives and 65 loaded cars.
Ten cars derailed.
"We expect to get the tracks open this afternoon," said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. Sease said the company does not know what caused the derailments.
The Decatur incident happened at 5:10 p.m. The northbound train carried mixed cargo. The train had six locomotives and 102 cars, two of which carried hazardous materials. A portion of the train was on the Tennessee River bridge when it derailed on the Railroad Street side of the bridge underpass on Wilson Street Northwest.
Twenty-three of the Decatur cars derailed. Two contained hazardous materials. One contained anhydrous ammonia and the other contained residue of molten sulfur.
None of the hazardous materials leaked, according to Sease.
CSX contractors used a crane to re-rail the 23 derailed cars shortly after midnight.
Sease said possible causes of derailments include the mechanical condition of the locomotive and rail cars, the condition of the track and the operating practices the crew was using.
CSX must report both incidents to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Asked if the FRA could fine CSX, Sease said, "Why would there be fines? I don't understand."
Sease said CSX does not inspect tracks near residential areas, like the location of the Decatur incident, any more than other tracks.
CSX owns the cars, the locomotive and the tracks.
"At this point, we're treating them as two separate incidents," Sease said.
Sease said CSX should be able to clear the tracks for train traffic late today. Until the track is cleared, CSX will route trains through Chattanooga and Atlanta.
According to FRA records, 84 CSX trains have derailed this calendar year.
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