44 cars of coal train derail south of downtown Cleburne
Sunday, 11 Oct 2009
It is reported that 44 cars on a BNSF Railway train derailed recently south of downtown Cleburne spilling coal and closing the heavily traveled track.
According to reports, no injuries were reported in the early morning derailment off South Wilhite Street south of the city historic rail yards.
Mr Charlie Hodges City spokesman said the cars derailed about 5 AM recently dumping coal all over the rail bed. The cars were part of a 100 car train.
Mr Joe Faust spokesman of Fort Worth based BNSF said there were no injuries or hazardous spills. He had no immediate details on what caused the derailment. But Mr Hodges said "Indications given to the city are that track failure is a possible cause."
Mr Faust said the train was carrying coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin coal fields to the Western Australia. Parish Power Plant at Smithers Lake in Fort Bend County, 25 miles southwest of Houston.
The Texas Genco facility is a 3,000 megawatt plant that burns more than 11 million tonnes of coal per year.
