Brenda Rosenberrys daughter is a nurse who works nights and was at her moms house on East 19th St. in Front Royal on Thursday when a Norfolk Southern train derailed just a few hundred feet away.
It was a jolt, Rosenberry said her daughter told her.
Initial reports indicated that around 12:55 p.m. Thursday that approximately 15 rail cars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed in town, Rachel McDonnell Bradshaw, media relations manager with Norfolk Southern, states in an email to The Northern Virginia Daily.
She noted that no hazardous materials were involved in the derailment, and there were no reported injuries to the Norfolk Southern train crew. Warren County Fire and Rescue also reported no injuries, according to a post on the department's Facebook page.
The mixed-freight train was en route from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Allentown, Pennsylvania, when the incident occurred, McDonnell Bradshaw added. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
Rosenberry said she and her friend William Riley had returned to the house from lunch around 1 p.m., missing the derailment by about five minutes. Riley said he had looked at the backyard and saw the damage from the derailment, Rosenberry said.
Another woman in the neighborhood was outside and heard some screeching, Rosenberry said. Then there was a loud bang and the neighbor felt the earth shake.
She said she knew the train done derailed, Rosenberry said.
Where the incident happened is known as Riverton Junction, where trains change lines to head north or south across the Shenandoah River, or more east and west to or from Strasburg, Rosenberry said.
In the 25 years that shes lived at her residence, theres never been a train derailment in her area, Rosenberry said.
Riley said crews were at the scene at around 3 p.m. One train car full of steel plates was ripped open, and another train car had a few 6,000-pound paper rolls bust out of car doors, he added.
Two other cars, he said, were tilted at an almost 45-degree angle off the track just north of where the line was disconnected and torn up.
Rosenberry said she was glad nothing toxic had spilled from the train. "They could have anything on these trains, she said.
Riley said he was told that crews would be working at the scene all night.
Norfolk Southern personnel and contractors are on-site working to coordinate cleanup and recovery efforts, McDonnell Bradshaw states in her email.
In May, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in the Linden area. No injuries were reported in that derailment.
-- Edited by Calvin on Thursday 4th of March 2021 04:28:10 PM
