Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PEMBROKE LENGTH: Medium
Don Piedmont, Norfolk Southern's public relations director, said the derailment happened about 10 a.m. The cause is still under investigation.
Steve Davis, administrative officer for the Giles County Regional Response Team, said the two trains were both traveling east on the same track.
A train carrying grain hit the end of another train carrying coal, causing two engines to derail and another to partially leave the tracks, Davis said.
Cheryl Daniel, a Montgomery Regional Hospital spokeswoman, said two people were brought to the hospital with injuries from the derailment. One person was treated in the emergency room and released. Another was admitted and was in stable condition, she said. Daniel could provide no other information.
Piedmont said both of the injured crewmen had been in the grain train.
Piedmont said two of four locomotives on the coal train turned over and one of the two left upright was leaning. The two coal cars that derailed "spilled an awful lot" of coal, he said. Cleanup efforts were continuing Sunday evening. One grain car derailed, Piedmont said, but did not spill.
The coal-train engines that derailed leaked a small amount of diesel fuel that was contained by the Giles County Hazardous Materials Team, Piedmont and Davis said.
The New River lies about 150 yards west of where one engine came to rest. Davis said no fuel reached the river and there was a very limited amount of ground soil contamination. The spill was contained by earthen dikes, Piedmont said.
Davis said there was no threat to the environment or local residents and there was no evacuation.
Piedmont said a wreck unit would arrive from Pennsylvania sometime Sunday evening to help with lifting the wreckage from the tracks. The railway will also have to assess and repair any track damage.
"There's a lot to be done," Piedmont said.
Both trains were traveling to Norfolk, Piedmont said. Train traffic was being diverted from the old Virginian track to another district, he said.
Davis said 25-30 people helped work the derailment, including Norfolk Southern, the Giles Rescue Squad, the county and regional hazardous-materials teams and volunteer fire department members from Pembroke, Eggleston, Pearisburg, Narrows and Rich Creek.
by CNB