The train derailment Saturday evening in Fredericksburg that caused a sound wall to topple four garages in the Cobblestone Square apartment complex could have been much worse.
Fredericksburg Fire Chief Mike Jones said although there were no hazardous materials in any of the five railcars that hit the sound wall, “just past” the derailed cars were tankers containing molten sulfur, a highly flammable solid that comes in a “very heated temperature.”
Jones said after a briefing by CSX Transportation Director of State Relations Randy Marcus Wednesday that the first thing emergency personnel did when they arrived on the scene Saturday was to check the length of the train and determine if there were any leaks or spills of hazardous materials.
“All of those [tanker] cars were on the rails and were intact,” Jones said. “So, that was a good thing, as far as that goes.”
Jones said two of the derailed cars contained scrap material, one had a soybean mixture, another was full of lime and a fifth was empty. Jones said he’s worked on four train derailments in his 41 years in the city.
Marcus said the cause of the latest incident was human error as the two-man crew failed to properly secure the cars after stopping in Fredericksburg to reroute a locomotive with mechanical issues back to Richmond. Marcus said he is unsure if another worker is supposed to check the cars to determine they are properly secured.
“This was an uncommon situation,” Marcus said. “One section of train was tied down improperly or not parked properly. Those cars rolled down the tracks into what is called a ‘split derail’ which caused several cars to leave the track before reaching the mainline. A hopper car struck the sound wall and the sound wall then toppled into the garages.”
Marcus was joined by CSX Senior Fields Investigation Analyst David Foehner, who is handling insurance claims from Cobblestone and its impacted residents.
Marcus said the employees who made the error do not face any disciplinary action, but instead CSX is taking an “education and improvement approach” to ensure it does not happen again.
A combination of approximately 50 city officials, impacted residents and other observers were on hand for the briefing, held in the Virginia Railway Express parking lot near the site of the incident.
Marcus apologized and informed those in attendance how CSX plans to prevent future occurrences.
Marcus said the split derail devices are safeguards used to prevent loose cars from rolling onto the mainline by intentionally sending them off the tracks. He said the devices were installed long before the Cobblestone garages and the sound wall were built. He said the structures are “clearly too close to the adjacent property.”
“This may sound counterintuitive, but the device worked as intended and possibly prevented a larger scale incident if loose cars had reached the mainline,” Marcus said.
Fredericksburg Planning Commissioner David Durham bristled at the notion that the cause of the incident was possibly a planning issue.
City Manager Tim Baroody said while the CSX representatives’ appearance was informative for citizens, officials will continue to hold the company accountable.
“We’re grateful that they showed up today,” Baroody said. “We need more information. We need it in writing, and we need to stick to a timeline to execute the improvements they’re talking about. We’re going to hold their feet to the fire.”
Baroody noted that representatives from U.S. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s office were on hand asking questions. He said city officials will call on state and federal legislators if necessary to ensure CSX follows through on its promises.
“We’re going to lean on those folks if we need to,” Baroody said. “But CSX has got to stand up and show us they’re a leader in this industry, and they need to prove that, so this type of stuff doesn’t happen again in our city.”
Marcus said CSX is going to relocate the derail device away from nearby property. He said the company will also review the locations of derail devices in general, and possibly increase setbacks from property lines. He also pledged that employees will be thoroughly trained for similar situations in the future.
Marcus said CSX’s goal is to make every resident who suffered property damage “whole.” The company is actively working with impacted property owners and the property manager at Cobblestone to rebuild the sound wall and the garages.
Foehner said that CSX will reimburse residents for all documented lost or damaged property. Mayor Kerry Devine noted, however, that some of the residents’ belongings were sentimental and do not have a monetary value attached to them.
“When we have a derailment like this, taking care of the needs of the community is first,” Marcus said. “We try to learn from these incidents and take steps to address issues and engage in positive ways to improve the situation going forward.”
