DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened two days of hearings on the derailment of a Norfolk Southern Freight train in East Palestine, Ohio in February.
The hearings also confirmed what the WAND News I-TEAM reported previously concerning the trains movements from Illinois to Ohio. The day before it derailed in Ohio the train had stopped in Decatur, Illinois. 55 cars were removed while another 41 were added making the train 149 cars long when it left the Decatur rail yard. One of three locomotives that brought the train from Madison, Illinois to Decatur was moved from the front of the train to a spot roughly in the middle.
Shortly after the train left Decatur it had to stop in Bement, Illinois in Piatt County. It was determined an end of train (EOT) device needed to be replaced when it signaled air pressure problems with the trains brakes. The stop lasted 2 hours. The next problem occurred in Indiana when a knuckle on a tanker used to couple the trains cars broke causing the train to separate.
The following night the train derailed in Ohio. The NTSB hearings resume tomorrow.
Burned Norfolk Southern Tanker in Decatur after derailment in Ohio in February 2023. Photo take in Decatur, Illinois April 13, 2023.
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