![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gordon-elias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/NS-Train-derailment-Sheffield-Village-OH.jpg\" "\\"NS")
An inspector surveys the remains of 26 Norfolk Southern rail cars that derailed Tuesday morning, November 16, blocking tracks in Sheffield. PHOTO CREDIT: Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer. <\/p><\/div>\n
The derailment was confirmed by SVFD Chief Jeffrey Young in a news released faxed to Fox 8 News. Sheffield firefighters responded to the scene shortly after 7 a.m. The area where the wreck occurred is used for storage of new vehicles by the sprawling Ford Motor Co. plant located just east of the derailment site off Abbe Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was impossible to count the number of cars involved due to the damage,\u201d Young said. \u201cThey were very badly damaged. We were pretty con\u00adfident that it involved 28 cars, but we had to rely on the train\u2019s manifest for the number. It was the worst train derailment I\u2019ve ever seen in Sheffield Village.\u201d<\/p>\n
An engineer and conductor in the locomotive were the only ones aboard at the time of the derailment, according to Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern public relations director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully there was no hazardous material aboard, and no one was hurt,\u201d Young said. \u201cIt was very violent. We\u2019re just very grateful no one was around there at the time.\u201d Most of the train\u2019s cars were either empty or hauling sand, according to Husband, who said the freight was eastbound on a Norfolk and Southern main line running between Bellevue and Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n
The exact cause of the derailment isn\u2019t yet known, Young said, but it led to a minor propane tank leak in the train yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s used as a switching yard for the Ford plant, and there are several heaters along the tracks that keep the switches from freezing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt looks like the derailment severed one of the lines to a remote heater, and it was leaking when we got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Firefighters quickly secured the area and got the leak under control.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it safe for the railroad workers to come in and start their job,\u201d Young said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got an awesome amount of work ahead of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheffield firefighters remained on the scene until about 9 a.m. \u201cOnce we determined there was no flammable material involved, it turned into a cleanup deal for the railroad,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n
Young said he has seen a number of minor derailments over the years in which \u201ca few cars came off the tracks, but nothing like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the worst I\u2019ve ever seen in that stretch of track.\u201d<\/p>\n