Clean-up started Tuesday morning after eight train cars filled with coal derailed in Windber.
Investigators reported a Norfolk Southern train leaving a Rosebud Mine derailed just after 7 p.m. Monday.
Jefferson Avenue from 8th Street to 11th Street is still closed while crews clean up.
Fire and borough officials say things could have been much worse and they’re grateful no one was injured and surrounding homes weren’t damaged. There is no word on what caused the derailment.
Neighbors stopped to watch as crews began clean-up, including Erik Anderson. He said the rumbling and screeching of trains passing by don’t usually bother him because he lives right by the tracks and is used to noise. However, Monday evening, something didn’t sound right.
“It did sound different like something was being dragged. I didn’t really pay it no mind, until I saw all the lights flashing and the fire trucks and I came out and was like, “Whoa’,” Anderson said.
11-year-old Bryan Irons watched in awe as cranes lifted cars back onto the tracks. The train derailed right behind his house.
“It just stopped really fast. I was wondering what was going on. We walked down the street and then we saw. It was really scary,” Irons said.
WTAJ: What were you scared of?
Irons: “It was going to fall on our houses.”
There is damage to the cars and the tracks. Officials said clean-up and repairs could take days.
“A lot of railroad ties are damaged,” said Windber Fire Department Asst. Fire Chief Joe Ponczek. “There’s going to be a lot of damage and a lot of cleanup work.”
As a precaution emergency, officials are asking people to avoid the area and stay away from the train.
Until the tracks are fixed, Anderson said the trains outside his house will be quiet, for now.
“This train comes through all day and all night. You know, and you pay no mind. It’s just another train,” Anderson said. “Last night, it wasn’t just another train.”