CAREY, Ohio — A collision involving two CSX Transportation trains before dawn Monday sent two crew members to a hospital and derailed a locomotive and 25 freight cars.
CSX said the crash, which occurred at about 5:21 a.m. north of Carey, mainly involved railcars carrying fracking sand, but diesel fuel from the derailed locomotive and refuse headed to a landfill spilled as well.
Two train-crew employees were taken to a hospital for precautionary evaluation, a railroad spokesman said.
The collision occurred at a location, called Springs on the railroad, where two tracks on the rail line converge into a single track. Under normal operations, one of the trains would have waited there for the other to pass.
The railroad declined to state if both trains were moving at the time of the collision or divulge any other details, but a report filed by the Wyandot County Sheriff’s Office stated that the northbound train had run past the waiting point and struck cars in the southbound train.
“CSX is currently investigating the incident and working closely with local first responders to assess the situation as we develop a recovery plan,” the railroad’s media office said.
The southbound train’s engineer told deputies he tried to alert the northbound train that it was fouling the single track by flashing his engine’s lights, blowing his horn, and calling on the train radio, according to the sheriff’s report. The northbound train’s engineer said he only remembered his engine rolling on its side after impact.
Sheriff’s deputies cleared the scene after CSX police arrived.
Hours later, cleanup continued at the site. The derailed locomotive remained on its side, as did one of two railcars hauling demolition debris and other refuse that spilled their loads into an abutting field. On the other side of the tracks, railcars hauling sand had piled into each other after the crash.
The derailment was expected to block a CSX line that runs between Toledo and Columbus for about 24 hours. No passenger trains use the line.
First Published August 12, 2019, 4:54 p.m.