“The offloading process takes approximately four hours per tank car,” says North Hoosick Fire Chief Alan Bornt in a post on his Facebook page. The empty cars will be removed from the track.
Removal of the tank cars was among the last work needed to get the tracks clear of cars, Bornt says. No injuries were reported when a 79-car Vermont Railway train derailed on Wednesday evening.
The incident happened at Hoosick Junction, an interchange between Vermont Railway and Pan American Southern. Vermont Railway hasn’t yet determined which railroad owned the tracks where the derailment occurred, Vermont Railway representative Peter Young said on Thursday.
“It may involve both,” he said.
Also unclear was whether there was any damage to the tracks.
The train was moving at “walking speed” at the time of the incident, Young says. Vermont Railway has not yet determined what caused the accident. State and federal officials are continuing to investigate.