NS Derails 33 Cars in Pennsylvania

No hazardous materials were involved in the derailment Monday afternoon of a Norfolk Southern train between Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries.

Officials said 33 cars derailed and plastic PVC pellets spilled from one car.

Because some cars displayed hazmat placards a hazardous materials team was dispatched to the scene. But no hazardous materials were spilled.

Cleanup of the derailment site continued into Tuesday. An NS spokesman said the eastbound train had three locomotives and 130 cars, including 104 loaded cars.

NS Train Derails West of Altoona

No injuries were reported and no hazardous material was involved in the derailment on Monday afternoon of a westbound Norfolk Southern intermodal train near Horseshoe Curve.

Train 21G derailed at about 3:40 p.m. in an area known as Allegrippus Curve and blocking all three tracks.

Photographs published on the website of Trains magazine showed cars with empty FedEx trailers on spine cars lying on their sides.

An online report indicated that the derailment began six car lengths from the head end. The train was on Main 2 when the derailment, which remains under investigation, began.

The Logan Township Police Department said no emergency response was required and the area is under control of NS personnel.

NS Intermodal Train Derails in Pennsylvania

No injuries were reported after 15 cars of an eastbound Norfolk Southern intermodal train derailed on Monday night near Newport, Pennsylvania.

The derailment blocked both tracks and led to Amtrak cancelling its New York-Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian in both directions on Tuesday.

News reports said the derailment occurred about 6:30 p.m. on the west side of the Juniata River near Old Ferry Road.

The train was reported in an online report to be the IOW, an extra section of train 20W. It was traveling from Chicago to Croxton, New Jersey.

NS officials said no hazardous materials were involved. The railroad also advised shippers that movements between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are subject to delays of 24 to 48 hours.

“The cause of the derailment is under investigation,” NS said in a statement that also noted that its workers as well as personnel employed by contractors were working to clear the derailed cars and repair track damage.

Road Still Blocked by Derailment Debris

Cleanup of a Norfolk Southern derailment in Gary, Indiana, is continuing and as a result a major road near the site remains closed.

The 20-car derailment, which occurred on Dec. 23, did not result in any injuries or the spillage of hazardous materials.

Although the rail line was reopened soon after the derailment, U.S. Route 12 is expected to remain closed for more than a week.

The highway is a primary artery in Gary. Officials said mechanical debris remains along the highway, which is near Indiana Dunes National Park.

The derailment involved a 123-car train headed from Chicago to Elkhart, Indiana.

NS spokesman Jeff DeGraff said Monday the cause of the derailment is still under investigation and workers are continuing to clear the site and make repairs to the track infrastructure.

Much of the wreckage involved overturned covered hopper cars.

NS Trail Derails in Gary, Indiana

No injuries were reported and no hazardous material was spilled in the derailment on Wednesday of Norfolk Southern train 12N in Gary, Indiana.

The derailment of 20 cars occurred at about 11:30 a.m. near milepost 490 and adjacent to the tracks of the South Shore commuter railroad.

The NS wreckage did not foul the South Shore tracks, but trains on that line were operating at reduced speed past the derailment site.

News reports indicated that some cars in the 132-car NS train had placards indicating they were carrying hazardous materials, but none of them spilled their contents.

The derailment occurred 84 cars deep into the consist. The train had originated in Chicago and was bound for Elkhart, Indiana.

The derailment blocked Amtrak service to Michigan with the westbound Wolverine Service train from Detroit (Pontiac) to Chicago being turned back at Michigan City.

Passengers on the affected trains were provided alternative transportation.

No Injuries in NS Derailment Near Cincinnati

A westbound manifest freight derailed early Tuesday on Norfolk Southern’s New Castle District in Butler County near Cincinnati, leading to blocked roads.

No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved.

Authorities said the derailment occurred at 4:15 a.m. on a single-track stretch. The line was expected to be reopened by late Tuesday afternoon.

The train had 40 cars of which 15 toward the middle of the consist derailed, leading to the closure of U.S. Route 127.

Railroad officials said the train was traveling at about 18 miles per hour at the time of the derailment.

School buses were rerouted around the area of the intersection of Hamilton-Eaton Road (Route 127) and Oxford Trenton Road.

The train was reported to be carrying auto parts and empty grain cars.

NS to Pay $2.5M to Pittsburgh Light Rail Operator

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay the Port Authority of Allegheny County more than $2.5 million to reimburse it for damage to a light rail line that occurred due to an NS derailment in August 2018.

The sum is a settlement of the Port Authority’s $3 million claim that had been submitted to NS last February.

During the derailment on the NS Mon Line, intermodal cars and containers slid down an embankment onto the Port Authority’s Station Square station.

The tumbling rail cars also damaged track and overhead wires of that section of the light rail line, which was out of service for three weeks for repairs.

The settlement must still be approved by the full governing board of the Port Authority next week.

Port Authority Chief legal officer Mike Cetra told the board’s performance oversight committee recommended that discussions with NS over the settlement were grueling at times and some claims had to be submitted to the railroad twice.

No Injuries in NS 3-Train Derailment in Pennsylvania

No injuries were reported in a three-train collision on Norfolk Southern in Pennsylvania on Friday.

New reports indicated that the railroad’s Pittsburgh Line reopened on Sunday morning following the crash in which one train struck the other from behind, causing a derailment that struck the third train on an adjacent track.

The crash occurred about 3:30 p.m. near Georges Station Road in Hempfield Township about three miles east of Greensburg.

NS said in a statement that a westbound empty crude oil train hit the rear of an intermodal train, derailing both locomotives of the tank car train and some of the tankers. The derailed locomotives remained upright.

Eleven intermodal cars carrying 50 containers also derailed. Of those nine intermodal cars carrying 32 J.B. Hunt containers spilled onto the adjacent track.

NS said that after the line is reopened that traffic would be delayed 24 to 48 hours.

Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian did not operate on Saturday between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Sunday eastbound train originated in Harrisburg.

Officials said no hazardous material was spilled during the derailment.

Railroad officials are still investigating the cause of the collision.

Railway Age reported that the tank car train was operated at restricted speed of less than 20 miles per hour when it crested a grade and was going around curve when it struck the stationary intermodal train on an descending grade.

The report said the Pittsburgh line in that area has positive train control, but that a PTC system would not necessarily have prevented the collision because although it regulates the maximum restricted speed in a location “it is unable to determine the exact position (emphasis in original) of obstructions ahead.”

The trade magazine said existing PTC systems do not through an end-of-train device determine the position of the rear of a train and transmit that telemetry to a following train via the wayside and central office PTC equipment.

Obstructions could be a stopped train, a broken rail, or an improperly lined switch. PTC also cannot determine “half the range of vision” for a railroad’s restricted-speed rule, Railway Age reported.

At best PTC could mitigate the severity of restricted-speed accidents.

Railway Age said PTC will not prevent some low-speed collisions caused by permissive block operation in which more than one train is in a block a time.

Nor can it prevent accidents caused by trains “shoving” in reverse, derailments caused by track or train defects, grade crossing collisions, or collisions with previously derailed trains.

The magazine said such features might become part of the next generation of PTC.

1 Hurt When NS Trains Collide near Cincinnati

One crew member was injured after two Norfolk Southern trains collided early Tuesday morning near Cincinnati.

The collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. and involved intermodal train 25A hitting the rear of manifest freight No. 143 on the NS New Castle District.

The injured crew member was aboard train 25A and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for examination.

The 25A originated in Chicago and was en route to Danville, Kentucky.

Three cars on the 143 derailed including two loads of butane and one load of pulpwood.

An NS spokesman said the crash occurred near milepost CF27 in Fairfield, Ohio.

The 143, which was en route from Elkhart, Indiana, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, reported having an emergency brake application.

The NS spokesman said there were no leaks or fire in the aftermath of the collision but a hazardous materials team was called to the scene and some local residents were evacuated as a precaution.

The hazmat team was to supervise recovery the loads affected by the derailment.

Schools in Fairfield opened two hours late because the derailment blocked North Gilmore Road.

The New Castle District extends from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Evendale, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb.

The New Castle District is a combination of former Nickel Plate Road and Pennsylvania Railroad heritage routes.

At Evendale, NS trains join the Dayton District but between Butler Street in Hamilton, Ohio, and Cincinnati NS and CSX have a directional running agreement.

Southbound trains generally use NS tracks and northbounds run on CSX, which is the former Baltimore & Ohio route between Cincinnati and Toledo.

Until the collision wreckage is cleared and the tracks repaired, trains are using CSX tracks between Hamilton and Cincinnati.

Amtrak’s Cardinal also operates between Hamilton and Cincinnati three days a week.

Woman Indicted in Connection with NS Derailment

A Delta, Ohio, woman has been indicted in connection with an incident that led to the derailment of a Norfolk Southern container train in early June.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Logan P. Guess, 25, who was indicted in Fulton County on charges of interfering with the operation of a train, a fourth-degree felony, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Guess is alleged to have left an SUV parked on the NS tracks in Swanton on June 6 that subsequently was struck by the westbound train.

After the collision, the rain pushed the vehicle until it snagged on a switch. The lead locomotive of the Chicago-bound train subsequently derailed.

The derailment blocked the busy NS Chicago Line for more than 24 hours.

There were no serious injuries in the derailment, which narrowly missed striking several buildings.