By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
Six cars derailed from a CSX train in Williamsburg Saturday morning, causing some damage to the railroad track but no injuries.
Emergency Management Director Danny Moses said four cars went over an embankment, one came partially off the tracks, and another’s wheels jumped the track.
The accident happened just before 10 a.m. near Three Point, north of Williamsburg off Watts Creek Road. The train had come from Corbin and was headed to Etowah, Tenn.
“It took up 1,250 feet of track and destroyed 617 cross ties,” Moses said of the accident. “It made a mess ... Luckily they (the derailed cars) were all on the end of the train, so the engineer and brakemen and conductor, they weren’t injured any.”
CSX Spokesperson Garrick Francis said three of the cars were classified for hazardous materials but all cars were empty at the time of the accident. Nothing was spilled at the site.
Moses said the nearby road was blocked Saturday to “keep sightseers out.” Francis said the track was repaired by 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Officials were still investigating the cause of the accident.
