A mangled mess: Six train cars derail in Nesquehoning

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”

That was the statement Daniel Davis of Levittown made Sunday afternoon as he stood near the tracks in Nesquehoning after the train derailed.

He was photographing the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern freight train pass through the borough Sunday afternoon as six cars on the end of the train derailed.

Left behind were hundreds of feet of mangled track, shredded ties, gouged earth and wheels thrown like toys on the sides of where the track once ran.

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The derailment happened just after 3 p.m. near the intersection with Mermon Avenue, just above Panther Valley Elementary School.

“I was standing there taking pictures of the train,” Davis said. “I just turned around and I saw all kinds of dust just kicking up. Then I see the cars just start leaning and coming off the tracks in different directions, coming right at me. I backed up real quick and the cars came off the tracks. The rail ripped out of the ground and a wheel landed right next to my car.”

Emergency crews quickly responded to the scene to assess the situation and taped off an area as passers-by stopped to take photos of the derailment.

Matt Johnson, vice president of public relations for Reading Blue Mountain and Northern, said Sunday evening that this was a minor derailment that happened in a bad spot.

He said that there were no hazardous materials inside the freight cars, adding that the train was carrying paper products and plastic pellets at the time.

The railroad plans to begin cleaning up the cars and repairing the rail shortly.

“Our goal is that we will be up there by 7 a.m. to start work,” Johnson said.

No one was injured.

New Columbus, Hauto and Nesquehoning fire companies, as well as Carbon County Emergency Management Agency, Nesquehoning Police and fire police and railroad officials and police were on scene.

Mermon Avenue is shut down until further notice, with no official time line set for it to reopen.

Panther Valley Elementary School posted on its Facebook page Sunday evening that the school was closed Monday as a result of the derailment.

Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management coordinator, said Monday morning that he wasn’t quite certain how long the cleanup would take.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to them today yet, but I would think at least a day or two,” Nalesnik said. “But they have to bring a crane in to either upright the cars or get them back onto the track.”