As he listened to U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Fredericksburg officials discuss the CSX Transportation tanker cars that have resided intermittently a block from his home on Cardwell Street, Willie Holmes couldn’t help but note the sense of deja vu.
“We stood in the same spot maybe five or six years ago talking to CSX about the same situation, and here we are again,” said Holmes, 77. “Nothing really has been done.”
The long-standing issue has been thrust anew into the public consciousness following the derailment of five cars from a CSX freight train near Cobblestone Square in July.
“This incident has really unnerved the community in a way we haven’t seen in a while,” City Manager Tim Baroody told Spanberger, who visited the site of the derailment early Wednesday morning before driving a short distance to tour the CSX railyard in Mayfield.
In a timely reminder of just how frequently hazardous materials pass through the city, no sooner had Baroody begun to speak than he was drowned out by the whistle and diesel-fueled bluster of a passing freight train. While the five cars that derailed were either empty or contained a soybean mixture or agricultural lime, the next eight that remained on the tracks contained molten sulfur, which is highly flammable.
“We’re relatively lucky that there was no loss of life,” Spanberger said.
Among the chief concerns raised with CSX by the city — and Spanberger, who lodged her own separate inquiry with the railroad company — is the derail infrastructure that led to the cars puncturing a sound wall and flattening a pair of garages on the other side.
One person in attendance asked why CSX didn’t relocate the derail device — which predated the construction of both Cobblestone and the adjacent sound wall — once the area was developed.
“Once upon a time, that might have been an appropriate place to put a derailing device,” agreed Spanberger, “but not anymore.”
In an Aug. 9 letter addressed to Baroody and obtained by the Free Press, CSX noted it had constructed a new derail device further south “to ensure any future incident would not impact the sound wall.”
“Additionally, CSX has actively begun looking at railyards around our network that have seen property development that may allow for structures to be built near derailing equipment,” the letter stated.
“They have responded to us in a way that I would not say is terribly satisfactory at this point,” Baroody said.
Fredericksburg Fire Chief Mike Jones told Spanberger that each morning at 7 a.m., he receives an email “snapshot” of any hazardous materials parked in the CSX railyard, complete with car number and four-digit UN numbers denoting what type of product they’re carrying. Jones also has access to an “AskRail” app that allows users to input a UN number and view detailed information, such as the owner and whether it’s full or empty.
In a recent interview, Jones told the Free Press that, over the past year, less than 60 cars have been parked in the Mayfield railyard and most of them have been empty.
“But there’s been no commitment on making that permanent,” Baroody said Wednesday.
Vice Mayor Chuck Frye, whose ward includes Mayfield, noted that while the residences bordering Railroad Avenue are an obvious concern in the event of any incident involving hazardous materials, much of the city — as well as bordering jurisdictions — could be affected.
“It pretty much affects whichever way the wind is blowing,” said Frye, gesturing to neighborhoods and businesses in several directions in relation to the tracks. “If you shoot right across the river, there’s the Walmart and Ferry Farm.
“Over here is Lee’s Hill… Folks at the University of Mary Washington don’t think about what happens with trains. But, depending on which way the wind is blowing, we’re talking about three localities based on these tracks right here.”
For his part, Holmes listened earnestly to officials like Frye, a Mayfield fixture whom he calls “Little Charlie,” as well as Spanberger, who was making her first appearance in the neighborhood he’s called home for the past 70 years.
He wants to believe lasting change can be achieved, but he’s seen good intentions veer off-track before.
“Will this meeting do anything?” Holmes asked himself. “I don’t know.”
