Boxcar pushes through fence onto roadway

By Alan Mauldin

May 09, 2008 10:42 pm

— THOMASVILLE — A train derailment Friday afternoon caused no injuries and resulted in no spills, a CSX railroad official said.
A single boxcar was pushed into the roadway on Colonial Drive, but the car did not turn over. The incident occurred at about 1:45 p.m., said CSX spokesman Gary Sease.
The accident occurred at a spur line that serves Interstate Warehousing Services in the 1700 block of Colonial Drive. The boxcar was pushed through a fence and came to a stop about two-thirds across the roadway.
“The operations center tells me a locomotive was shoving five cars to an industry when one of the cars — the boxcar — derailed,” Sease said. “We don’t know why yet. We’re investigating that.”
Equipment to move the boxcar back on the track and repair any damage to the rails was expected to arrive in the afternoon, Sease said.
“This is a local train just working area industries,” he said. “It picks up loaded (cars) or sets off empties.”
Sease did not know what kind of damage was done to the street.
“Any damages to property other than ours, we will certainly make sure that’s paid for,” he said.
City workers were not sure as of Friday evening whether the street was damaged the, said Assistant City Manager Lynn Williams.
“Until they moved the train with a crane, they wouldn’t be able to assess the damage,” Williams said.

Reporter Alan Mauldin can be reached by calling (229) 226-2400, ext. 226.