An unmanned locomotive jumped the train tracks in an East Syracuse rail yard on Thursday morning and wound up spilling fuel in Butternut Creek. Investigators say the unmanned freight locomotive was attached to another engine that was being moved in the rail yard around 4:30 am. The locomotive somehow broke away from the other engine and ran of the end of the track near Girden Road in East Syracuse. One end of the CSX locomotive landed on the bank of a tributary of Butternut Creek. A tank containing the locomotive’s diesel fuel was damaged in the accident and about 1500 gallons of fuel spilled into the creek. The State Department of Environmental Conservation is working with private contractors hired by the railroad to cleanup the site. A spokesperson for the railroad says they are still trying to figure out what went wrong. No one was injured in the accident.
"What a revoltin' development this turned out to be..." Riley Now just how does a loco become uncoupled and take off in the other direction??? Invisible gremlins???? Ed [ 13 April 2002, 22:29: Message edited by: Edtrain ]
Very strange indeed. Was the runaway in MU? Or simply being switched by a hostler? You've got to post up the answer when it comes out. This is an oddity! BoxcabE50
