OH - Major Rail Line Shut Down Following Derailment

By James Pilcher The Cincinnati Enquirer

A minor train derailment involving a tanker car carrying methanol and a caboose shut down rail and street traffic along River Road early this morning.

The accident occurred at about 4:30 a.m. and involved a 28,000-gallon tanker carrying methanol, a form of alcohol.

Road traffic was restarted by 7 a.m., said a spokesman for CSX, which owned the track and operated the train.

The tanker rolled off an embankment along a switching track near Ashland Oil's Valvoline packaging plant in Addyson, leaking about 20 gallons of the flammable, toxic substance.

But since the amount was so small, and no toxic fumes were released, no evacuations were necessary, according to Cincinnati Fire Division Chief Roy Yocum.

CSX spokesman Gary Wollenhaupt said investigators have not determined a cause. Workers were still trying to clear the tanker from near the track and open up the mainline to rail traffic at noon today, while Chief Yocum said cleanup would probably take the rest of the day.

http://enquirer.com/midday/midday2.html

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 08, 2000

Answers

CSX, eh? They are about the most error-prone freight hauler out there. Second only to Norfolk Southers.

This figures.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), November 09, 2000.