Train hits boulder; fuel tank ruptures PORT HENRY - A freight-train locomotive hit a boulder here at 10 a.m. Monday, rupturing its fuel tank and leaking 700 gallons of diesel fuel. The train was going north on tracks in an area off Route 9N called "The Rock Cuts," Essex County Office of Emergency Services officials said. The tank on the first of five engines on a 95-car train leaked about 700 gallons of diesel fuel, which was contained by the State Department of Environmental Conservation Spill Response Unit and emergency workers. "The train lost 300 gallons along the tracks and another 400 where they stopped," said Essex County Emergency Services Assistant Director Donald Jaquish. "When they hit the rock, it (the rock) shattered. We pumped off all the fuel, and Port Henry and Whallonsburg fire departments used a patch kit to patch it." No one on the train was injured. After it hit the rock, the train traveled 3,600 feet from the point of impact before stopping near Collins Motel. The lead engine's 3,200-gallon fuel tank was punctured by the rock, while the tank on the second locomotive had a pinhole leak. The train will be powered by its remaining three engines on the trip to Canada for permanent repairs. Griffith Oil of Port Henry pumped out the two engines' fuel tanks. Jaquish said the train began its trip back to CP Rail facilities in Canada at about 3 p.m. An inspection must be done of the tracks in the area where the incident occurred, Jaquish said. "It broke ties, and a lot of pieces of rocks are scattered. It damaged the front of the train." None of the fuel got into Lake Champlain, he said. Workers dug a trench on the lake side of the tracks to contain the leaking fuel and will try to recover what they can later. Amtrak trains were held up, and passengers will be bused, probably from Albany to Plattsburgh, until the tracks are certified as safe.
We had that happen here a few years ago, thiugh it that case it was believed to have been vandalisim. Thats one of the downsides to putting fuel tanks down there is they are vulnerable to crud in the tracks.
