THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Three empty coal cars derailed Tuesday morning, destroying a wooden maintenance platform on a concrete bridge over Center Avenue in the Mid-city neighborhood.
No one was injured, but several vehicles traveling on Center Avenue, including a school bus, narrowly escaped damage when the wooden platform and two sets of wheels from the coal cars fell onto the street.
``There was a big boom and then a big crash,'' said Pat Veronie, who works at Peninsula Dental Laboratory on Center Avenue next to the railroad tracks.
Veronie, who said the accident occurred about 10:15 a.m., ran to the front door of the dental lab in time to see at least two buckled coal cars moving sideways down the track. He then ran to Center Avenue to stop the school bus and other vehicles.
The wooden maintenance platform was between two parallel, elevated concrete bridges that carry rail lines across Center Avenue.
Center Avenue connects two of the city's main thoroughfares - Jefferson Avenue and Warwick Boulevard. Center Avenue was closed to traffic on both sides of the accident site.
``We were real fortunate there was no traffic,'' said Mike Griffin, an inspector with the city's engineering department. ``Because whatever was under there would have definitely been crushed.''
Kathy Burns, spokeswoman for the CSX Transportation Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla., said 57 empty coal cars were being pushed toward the CSX yard in Newport News. The derailment, she said, occurred at cars 43, 44 and 45. None of the cars overturned, Burns said.
No significant damage was done to the bridges, she said. Service on the line was to resume Tuesday night.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Burns said. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Police officer W.K. White, upper right, inspects damage caused by
the derailment of three empty coal cars Tuesday morning on a
concrete bridge over Center Avenue in the Mid-city neighborhood of
Newport News. No one was injured.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAIN by CNB