Summer '04 Edition
Investigators search for cause of Friday I-57 train derailment
J. E. RogalinDaily Egyptian
WEST CITY - Four days after the Canadian National Railroad train derailment that dumped 800 tons of coal on Interstate 57 near the West City exit and left countless frustrated motorists delayed for hours, investigators are still searching for a cause to the incident.
Pierre Leclerc, Canadian National Railroad director of Communication, said the company was conducting an investigation into the cause of the derailment and hopes to have everything resolved in the next two weeks.
Leclerc said the Canadian National Railroad organization had about 50 employees on the scene as well as 30 employees of Hulcher, the contractor hired by the company to bring in special equipment to remove the cars from the interstate.
Tom Zerrusen of the Illinois Department of Transportation estimated, not including the bridge, the clean up efforts cost about $30,000 to $100,000 for traffic control, road patching, guardrail repairs and overtime pay to workers called to the scene.
Zerrusen said about 25 IDOT workers and "a whole host of people that came out to help" worked to re-route traffic and clear the pavement.
"If it was not for the outstanding cooperation of the Illinois Transportation, the state police, and those who were there at the first response, it couldn't have been done as fast," Leclerc said.
Additional patching could be on the interstate and the walkway on the railroad bridge needs to be re-established, but officials applaud a speedy recovery and gratitude to the number of people involved in the clean up efforts.
Northbound traffic near the accident was re-opened at 3:45 a.m. Saturday, and southbound traffic was operating at 4:30 a.m. Southbound traffic was closed off and re-routed again from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. to repair the railroad bridge, and northbound traffic was re-routed from noon till 3:30 p.m for the same reason.
Police response and cooperation were key elements in the quick and organized manner in which the interstate and railroad were recovered. While the spill created initial confusion and was temporarily problematic for local residents as well as those traveling Interstate 57, the clean up efforts went rather smoothly.
Since it was such a large project to tackle, IDOT crew members first removed the fallen cars and steel, as well as one car that was hanging from the structure. Workers then shoveled the 800 tons of coal into about 30 semi trucks to be sent back to St. Louis to be re-processed. Afterwards, the bridge was cleared and made stable before traffic was allowed to pass.
The train, carrying coal from St. Louis to Paducah, Ky., ran off the track and spilled 800 tons of coal onto Interstate 57. Only one injury was reported.
Police responded to the first call at 9:36 a.m. Friday and began the enduring task of re-routing traffic.
Southbound traffic went to exit 77 to Sesser and then from Illinois Route148 south through Christopher to Illinois Route149 east and back onto Interstate 57 at exit 65.
Northbound traffic exited at exit 65 and went east on Illinois Route 37 north to Illinois Route 154 back onto Interstate 57 at exit 77.
While traffic has now returned to normal in the towns of Christopher and Sesser, the extra traveling through these smaller towns caused quiet a stir for people not used to big rigs and bumper-to-bumper interstate traffic.
Heather Gulley, a resident of Valier, lives 10 minutes away from where she works at Casey's General Store in Christopher. Because of the re-routing and the extra traffic, it took her over an hour to get to work that day. Gulley said customers were mad about the re-route and most travelers didn't know why they were being moved.
"From 3:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., I couldn't even get away from the register," Gulley said.
Amanda Gilbert of Bluford, which is located eight miles east of Mount Vernon, found herself late for her job at Lowe's in Carbondale because of the traffic. Gilbert heard the news of the train derailment on the radio when she got onto the interstate, so she tried to exit at Ina only to find "they had routed the trucks that way.
"I left my house at ten and got [to Lowe's] about 12:40 p.m.," Gilbert said. "The traffic was pretty well organized. They were letting 10 in at a time, then letting 10 more go."
The worst part for Gilbert was the gas guzzling suffered by her sport-utility vehicle.
"With the stop and go, it took about three quarters tank of gas," Gilbert said.
Not as many travelers were as patient as Gilbert. Some cars cut across the interstate median to hit the Ina exit trying to avoid detours.
Susan Dougger of West City heard the train derail from her home and described it as a "frightening ka-boom."
"I didn't pay much attention because the trains are always making noise and trucks are always honking their horns," Dougger said, "But [the train] was blowing its horn. It was my first thought: 'One of those trains turned over.'"
Soon after Dougger heard the train crash, she heard the fire department and police responding to the scene.
In Benton, Robin Downey heard the crash, which happened near her home. Downey was sitting outside talking on the phone with her husband, who also heard the crash over the phone.
"It sounded like a big jet right over my house," Downey said.
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