NEWBURGH – CSX Railroad estimates that the track where a freight train derailed Tuesday afternoon will be opened by this evening and the wreckage removed.
Lots of heavy equipment brought in for the cleanup
Over 4,600 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the ruptured locomotive fuel tanks. No other locomotive tanks or cars were compromised or leaked, and no loss of product occurred, officials said.
State Police, the lead agency conducting the investigation, said the freight train struck a 135-foot articulating boom lift while traveling on the CSX River Subdivision Line.
The train, consisting of three locomotives and 77 railcars, was southbound when it struck the boom lift. The operator of the lift was approaching a private crossing when it became disabled on the tracks. The operator was able to get off the lift before the lead locomotive struck it, causing the train to derail.
The lead locomotive continued southbound before coming to rest on River Road. During the derailment of the cars, uninvolved CSX tamper and regulator maintenance machines were struck on an adjacent track causing injury to the two operators. They were treated at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital with one operator being admitted pending further treatment. The others were treated and released.
In total, three locomotives and 14 rail cars derailed.
