a norfolk southern freight train derailed on the tracks and diesel fuel is leaking from the engine tanks. I will update as much new info as i can.
update from action news and nbc 10 news:
nbc10:
Engineers Check Safety Of I-76 After Landslide
1,000 Gallons Of Fuel Spills From Train In Tuesday Morning Landslide
POSTED: 6:11 am EST January 2, 2007 UPDATED: 11:17 am EST January 2, 2007
Officials said a landslide caused a freight train to derail on a track that runs parallel to the Schuylkill Expressway in Lower Merion Township on Tuesday morning, adding that another landslide could severely damage the heavily traveled road. PennDot engineers investigated the area of the landslide Tuesday morning to make sure the support structure of I-76 wasn’t compromised. They determined that the landslide did not damage the heavily traveled roadyway. Traffic squeaked along all morning because officials wanted vehicles to move slowly to avoid vibrations as engineers investigated. More than 1,000 gallons of fuel spewed around the area after the landslide pushed the cars of a freight train over around 4 a.m. Officials said several of the cars that were part of the train that did not derail were hauling benzine. The benzine did not leak, but if it had there would have been evacuations and the Schuylkill Expressway would have been shut down. There is also a PECO transmission tower in the area of the landslide that supplies power from Upper Moreland to Roxborough. The tower was not immediately affected by Tuesday morning’s landslide, and officials also said that the power lines will not be affected. Right after the train ran off of the tracks, crews closed a lane on a portion of the I-76 westbound, causing a major traffic backup up on westbound Schuylkill Expressway lanes approaching the Belmont Avenue exit during the early morning rush. Two engines and two box cars on a Norfolk Southern Train Line train were involved in the accident, according to the company. Local hazmat teams were were busy cleaning up the area Tuesday morning. No injuries were reported.
the line should have beenreopened at midnight last night