CSX transportation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Snow Delays Repairs After Morgan County Train Derailment

Weather-related delays have pushed back the repairs of a Morgan County rail line after 10 cars on a CSX Transportation train derailed Monday afternoon.

After 10 cars on a CSX Transportation train derailed in rural Morgan County Monday, emergency personnel restored one of two affected rail lines in less than a day.

Emergency officials said they have already removed the rail cars involved in the incident.

But recent snow in the Eastern Panhandle has pushed back repairs on the other affected rail line, according to Sheriee Bowman, CSX senior manager of media relations.

Originally, CSX expected to complete rail line repairs Wednesday afternoon. But Bowman wrote in an email that weather has played a role in delaying the rail repairs.

As a result, service has not yet been restored to the Morgan County portion of the railway affected by the derailment.

As of Thursday, “work will continue throughout the day until service is fully restored,” Bowman wrote.

She did not specify when CSX expects to fully complete the rail line repairs.

Repairs To Continue Through Wednesday Following Morgan County Train Derailment

Repairs on a rail line are expected to continue until Wednesday after a train derailed in rural Morgan County. No injuries or hazardous material spills were reported.

Updated on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 4:10 p.m.

CSX and emergency response personnel worked through Monday night to address a derailment near Magnolia, an unincorporated community in Morgan County.

Sheriee Bowman, senior manager of media relations at CSX Transportation, wrote in an updated statement Tuesday afternoon that the derailment involved 10 cars — not nine — and that it impacted two rail lines.

Service was slated to resume Tuesday afternoon on one of these rail lines, Bowman wrote. Repairs on the second line were planned to continue until Wednesday afternoon.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation.

Original Post: Train Derails In Morgan County, No Injuries Reported

A freight train derailed near Magnolia, an unincorporated community in Morgan County, around 4:16 p.m. Monday.

No injuries were reported from the incident, according to a written statement from Sheriee Bowman, senior manager of media relations at CSX Transportation — the company that operates the train.

Bowman wrote that nine cars were involved in the derailment, including one containing dry cement, one containing calcium chloride and four containing sodium hydroxide.

None of the cars containing hazardous materials experienced spillage, she wrote.

In a news release Monday afternoon, Amtrak said that a train traveling from Washington, D.C. to Martinsburg had reversed its course due to the disabled freight train.

Kimberly Woods, senior public relations manager for Amtrak, wrote in an email that Capital Limited trains 29 and 30 remain canceled due to the derailment.

Gov. Jim Justice, the West Virginia Emergency Management Division and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection released a joint statement Monday night, which stated that the agencies were directed “to extend necessary resources and assistance” to resolve the derailment.

Emergency personnel at the scene included local and county-level response teams from both West Virginia and Maryland, the joint statement said.

“CSX appreciates the swift response of the local first responders,” Bowman wrote. “The safety of the community and everyone on site is CSX’s top priority as we develop a recovery plan.”

The cause of the incident remains under investigation, Bowman added.

A little more than a year ago, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling toxic chemicals, threatening the air and water for local residents.

**Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that a CSX train derailed in East Palestine over a year ago. It was a Norfolk Southern train that derailed. The story has been updated with the correction.

December 24, 1852: B&O Railroad Completed Near Moundsville

On Christmas Eve 1852, the last spike was driven on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and the Ohio River. The event occurred at Rosbys Rock near Moundsville.

The Baltimore and Ohio—known as the B&O—changed the course of West Virginia history. It produced the first coal boom in the northern part of the state and led to the rapid growth of towns like Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Grafton, Parkersburg, Wheeling, and Clarksburg. During the Civil War, it played into the military strategies of both sides, and its tracks were repeatedly damaged and then repaired. When West Virginia statehood leaders carved out the new state’s borders, the eastern panhandle counties were included primarily to keep the B&O in West Virginia and outside of Confederate Virginia.

After the war and well into the 20^th century, the B&O was a major force in the economies of West Virginia and the nation. By midcentury, though, it was suffering economically. In 1973, the B&O name disappeared when it was merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio and Western Maryland railways to form the new Chessie System, which is now CSX Transportation

What's Next for CSX's Huntington Property?

CSX announced in January it was closing administrative offices in downtown Huntington. That means the loss of 121 administrative jobs, but it also leaves the question of what happens to the building when CSX leaves.

The rail company announced that it will consolidate administration divisions from 10 to 9, moving administrative responsibilities from Huntington to five other divisions in Atlanta, Baltimore, Florence, Great Lakes and Louisville. CSX will continue running trains in the area and will keep open its Huntington locomotive shop.

But what happens to the hundred –year-old, 31,000 square-foot building on 7^th Avenue when CSX closes? That could happen as early as this summer. David Lieving, is the President and CEO of the Huntington Area Development Council or HADCO.

“I think it’s important that it not remain vacant for a long period of time,” Lieving said. “I think it’s a testament to the fact that there are a lot of committed people in Huntington that want to see it be repurposed and reused, and frankly it’s an opportunity and I think people recognize the historical significance and many people would probably like to be part of that and play in whatever role they could in seeing that the building is being used again for something productive.”

HADCO has offered its help to the city with efforts to find a tenant or tenants for the facility and to even help in the negotiations, if needed.

Spokesman Bryan Chambers says the city won’t comment on talks between Mayor Steve Williams and CSX on what will happen to the facility. Lieving, though, said it’s important to make sure the facility is used in a productive way.

Lieving said CSX is still evaluating what they have in the building. He said they’ve approached them about the possibility of a donation of the property to the city, but ultimately it’s a wait-and-see game.

Jacqueline Proctor is with the Create Huntington. The group focused on coming up with creative ways to help the city flourish, has been full of ideas for the building that was renovated in 1995.

Some of those ideas focused on the use of the facility as something of a museum to highlight what CSX and trains mean to a city named after a railroad pioneer in Collis P. Huntington.

“I and other people could easily see retail shopping space, a restaurant, someone suggested at our last meeting they would love to see another live musical venue like a jazz club,” Proctor said. “We most certainly could see administrative office space being there on the upper floors and perhaps an educational space not only about the city of Huntington and Cabell County and Wayne and all that, but our train history too.”

Proctor said whether the city can obtain the property or a private owner does, they just hope that it can be used in a productive way.

Messages were left with CSX, but they did not offer comment.

Huntington Not the Only Local Community Dealing With CSX Job Cuts

Officials say 101 positions at a CSX Corp. facility in eastern Kentucky are being eliminated amid a slump in the coal industry.

CSX spokeswoman Melanie Cost told media that the company decided to make the cuts as a last resort. She said the facility in Russell primarily serves trains moving from coal fields in central Appalachia and there is no longer enough activity to support the jobs.

Officials said the cuts affect only the transportation and mechanical departments and leaves more than 300 employees at the location.

CSX also cited a decline in coal when it reduced operations at sites in Corbin, Kentucky, and Erwin, Tennessee, last fall, and when it announced in January that it was closing its administrative offices in Huntington, West Virginia.

CSX West Virginia Train Derailment Lawsuit Moved to US Court

A lawsuit filed stemming from a fiery February derailment of a CSX oil train in Mount Carbon has been moved to federal court.

The Register-Herald reports that the lawsuit by more than 200 residents was moved to U.S. District Court in Huntington at the request of the rail company. The lawsuit was initially filed in state court.

The lawsuit alleges economic and property losses and also seeks punitive damages.

The civil action contends that CSX failed to properly inspect the track, train cars and cargo and failed to have to have proper procedures in place for the train’s safe operation.

Federal investigators concluded that a cracked rail that was missed in two inspections led to a broken rail and the derailment.