St. Stephens Train Wreck

Train derails in St. Stephens
By Noah Haglund (Contact), Schuyler Kropf (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Originally published 09:49 a.m., July 29, 2008
Updated 10:26 a.m., July 29, 2008

 

Brad Nettles/The Post and Courier
A CSX employee walks past a train loaded with coal that derailed on Hwy 45 in St. Stephen Tuesday morning

 

 

 

 

 ST. STEPHENS— A half dozen coal cars derailed at the CSX train tracks near the intersection of U.S. Highway 52 and S.C. Highway 45 early this morning, creating a detour that was expected to keep officials busy with traffic and cleanup for much of the day.

No injuries were reported.

Troopers responded to the scene near St. Stephen Middle School at 6:06 a.m., according to the Highway Patrol’s Web site. No motorists were hurt, Beres said. Later that morning, flaggers were directing traffic. State Highway 45 westbound remained blocked off at 10 a.m. Troopers and state Department of Transportation workers were directing cars through a nearby neighborhood.

St. Stephen Police Chief John Waters said authorities are working to open that road as soon as possible; the closure probably affects hundreds of drivers each day, he said.

Barbara Bobbitt, who lives in a trailer about 70 yards from the wreck site, said they slept through the accident.

“We were so used to the train going by, we’re used to the noise,” she said.

Five cars overturned and two were off the track but upright, said John Hawkins, CSX director of corporate communications. The cars knocked down some pine trees when they left the tracks.

At least 2 CSX cranes are believed to be on their way to start lifting the cars up, which is likely to take a couple of days, Waters said.

Any environmental hazard from the spilled coal has been eliminated, Waters said

“We’ve got people on the way to get things cleaned up and to determine why it happened,” Hawkins said. Waters said the spill is a confirmed accident.

Hawkins said the train with two locomotives had originated in Russell, Ky., and was loaded with coal in Cayce. The line serves Georgia Pacific and Santee Cooper.

The train derailed after pulling onto a straight section track that heads toward the Santee Cooper power plant in Cross. Since the train had left the main track, other rail service would be disrupted.

Engineers will be interviewed by the CSX officials. According to the company rules, the engineers cannot leave the train compartment, Waters said.

Check Charleston.net for more details later today

Article From: http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/29/train_derails_st_stephen49051/