FELA Lawyer News Blog

MADISONVILLE, KY – A CSX train hauling tons of coal derailed in Madisonville, KY on October 9, 2010 spilling tons of coal and causing heavy damage to the rail cars and roadway.

Madisonville is in Hopkins County, Kentucky in the western part of the state about 46 miles southwest of Owensboro and about 80 miles northwest of Bowling Green.

The derailment occurred about 2:00 a.m. in the morning over a tunnel crossing North Kentucky Ave. right behind the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville.

About 15 cars derailed in the mishap. Nearly all of the coal being carried by the overturned rail cars spilled out onto the roadway and onto the areas next to the tracks.

Two of the overturned cars were hanging perioulously over a tunnel on North Kentucky Ave. A nearby tree seemed to be the only thing keeping the cars from falling over onto the road below the tunnel.

So far, no injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.

There has been no official word as to the cause of the mishap. The derailment is under investigation. There was speculation by a member of the local Fire Department that the mishap may have been a result of an improperly set switch-track device.

According to an article at iSurfHopkins.com, the Madisonville Fire Department member “had understood from CSX workers that the switch had been set somewhere in the middle, causing the train to try and go in two opposing directions,” but this has not been confirmed by company officials and there is not yet any official word on the cause of the derailment.

The roadway was blocked while crews worked to clean up the scene.

This is the second CSX coal train derailment to occur within a day of each other, the most recent one occurring in Chapmanville, West Virginia on October 8 at about quarter past 5:00 a.m. An article on that derailment can be found here:

CSX Train Derails in Chapmanville WV – Dumps Coal on State Route 10

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Published by FELA lawyer Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP

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