A CSX freight locomotive overran the tracks at a railyard, smashed through a fence and then carried 30 feet into a detached garage in Niagara Falls, New York on Monday morning. Incredibly, no one was injured in the massive crash, but the derailment spilled up to 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
The locomotive was supposed to roll down a short spur at the yard to turn around. The engine didn’t stop and crashed through the bumper at the end of the spur, the Associated Press reports. CSX is investigating the derailment’s cause and stated, “Our primary focus right now is the health and safety of onsite staff and personnel, the surrounding community, and mitigating risk to the environment. CSX appreciates the swift response of the Niagara Falls fire department.”
The fire department had its hands full containing the fuel spill. Fire Chief Gary Pochatko told USA Today that multiple agencies were at the scene to deal with the diesel fuel. The freight railroad claims that the fuel has been contained and didn’t impact any waterways.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the first time that an engine overran that specific spur. Lori Morreale Harris, a resident of the home, told the Buffalo News that a train hit the sane garage during the late 1970s when her grandparents lived there.
CSX is very familiar with train derailments. Last year, the railroad derailed a train into a federally protected river. The Association of American Railroads, an industry lobby, states that the vast majority of derailments happen in railyards at speeds around five miles per hour with minimal property damage. This crash in Niagara Falls was one of them.
