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No Injuries In Molino Train Derailment (With Gallery)
May 25, 2012
At least four cars on CSX freight train derailed in Molino Thursday night, posing no danger to the public but evoked back memories of previous serious derailments in the area.
The loaded freight cars hauling flour and refrigerated orange juice came off a side track near the dead end of McKinnonville Road about 11 p.m. The cars appeared to have left the tracks at low speed as they past a switch as the train headed south toward Cantonment. Multiple cross ties were broken, with the tracks separating and many of train wheels coming to rest between the two pieces of track.
None of the cars overturned or left the railbed, and nothing was spilled from any of the freight cars. There’s no word so far on the exact cause of the derailment.
For a photo gallery from the scene, click here.
While the incident initially blocked crossings on Daffin and Fairground roads, those were re-opened within about an hour. Officials said that CSX expects to have the derailed cars back on the secondary track within 24 hours. No roadway crossings remain closed due to the derailment.
A northbound CSX train, stopped on the main track as the southbound train passed on the sidetrack, was not involved in the derailment.
Robert Harris, who lives near the railroad tracks on Daffin Road, said he first learned of the derailment from a breaking news story on NorthEscambia.com and walked to the scene to see for himself what had happened.
“It could have been a lot worse, something could have spilled out of one of the chemical cars and gas could have got around,” Harris said. “Somebody could have got hurt.”
Harris said that along the rails in Molino, he’s noticed that the tracks seems to move up and down from the railbed more than in some locations. “You can see them; they hop,” he said. “The trains, they bounce when they are going down the tracks.”
“Maybe CSX need to do some safety procedures about how they operate their transportation,” Harris added. “It seems like the tracks need to be checked out a little bit more.”
Harris said he was glad the accident wast not worse. “It wouldn’t be the first time it happened; there have been a lot of train derailments out here in the past.”
For a photo gallery from the scene, click here.
In 1995, a 29 car derailment in Molino involved multiple tankers with hazardous chemicals, forcing the evacuation of about 150 people.
In November 1979, officials actually used thermite grenades to ignite propane in six derailed tanker cars.All total, 22 cars derailed, 19 of which contained hazardous materials. The total cost of the derailment cleanup and damage to the environment was estimated at $5.1 million. Up to 200 people were evacuated.
In 1976, nearly 30 people received medical treatment after inhaling ammonia after a derailment just north of Molino. In all, at least a half dozen trains have reportedly derailed in the Molino area in the past 30 years.
Pictured: Four cars on from a southbound CSX freight train derailed in Molino Thursday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
13 Responses to “No Injuries In Molino Train Derailment (With Gallery)”
I’ve tried to tell people about that derailment back in 1980 but it seems like no one could remember that much about it. Maybe its because i was young but It seemed like a really big deal back then. Didn’t they have to evacuate everybody and drop a bomb on it from an airplane? It left a big crator in the ground and I thought i remembered it making national news. A few years ago when my son and I were hunting about a 1/2 mile away from the crash site we found a big chunk of one of the tanker cars. It was before his time so I told him about what had happen. He said he’d never heard anything about before.
This makes me think of the derailment on Senic Hwy. A Physician who lived nearby awoke to discover a cloud or fog of anhydrous ammonia creeping through
the neighborhood. The doctor ran from neighbor to neighbor, shouting and banging on doors to awaken people to the danger. He was overcome by the gas and died on the lawn of a home he was trying to alert. Selfless.
Thank the Lord this was not a bad occurance.
Im assuming it was probably a picked a switch. Good thing they were traveling at a slow speed. Glad no one was harmed,and thanks for the coverage!
going off the rails on a crazy train…….
with all the derailments that have happened in the molino area, you’d think something might need to be fixed that hasn’t been. that is a lot of train derails for one area! glad everything/everyone is okay.
I remember the previous accidents out here of where the trains flipped off the railroad tracks and gas leaked out and us residents had to evacuate from here. I have old newspaper clippings from back then.. But yet again good thing that this accident wasn’t any worse than what had happened.
hey william maybe you should do an interview with Chris Cawthon it would be nice to see something from old times that turned out good and someone walk away from it…and not all the bad news thats happening now days…especially all the wrecks on hwy 4 , hwy 97, and 29 maybe people need to be more cautious and aware or maybe just learn how to drive.
Good work William! Once again you are first with the news from our area!!!!
As one of the survivors of the 1976 derailment on Brickyard Road (at the intersection of what is now called Bamer Holly), very frightening memories are evoked when something like this happens. Thank God there were no chemicals involved. I join the others in thanking you for the prompt coverage of this story, William. Having grown up hearing my stories of the 1976 accident it was my daughter who called around midnight to ask if I knew that everyone was safe after reading the story on NorthEscambia.com. As a testament to the impact of your website, William, I’ll add that my daughter and her husband are stationed at Camp Pendleton in Southern California now — you can see how your website serves to keep our local family connected. Thank you!
William I applaud you for your travel and your news coverage in this area but not just the Molino area but for the entire Northescambia area. You work so hard in your efforts and in your work. If there was an award for your kind of work then you should recieve one for it. I’m glad I was able to give you a testimony on what I figured on the accident in which happened. I try to look out on things. Well..Godbless and I’m glad that nobody was injured. :}
Yeah buddy you go Robert!
They just repaired this. Good thing that he was slowing down if not that would have been a bad derail
Gosh,u work fast. Fire depts. just arriving and u have reported again. Its really nice to have local news u can count on,so fast. Thanks again for all your hard work William,u are great.