Published: June 19, 2008 12:28 pm            

Train derails in city; no one injured

A careening train had just torn through Matt Rietscha’s place of employment, leaving the twisted remains of his pickup sandwiched between a freight car and a fence.

But Rietscha had plenty to be thankful for.

“We’re just lucky we didn’t get hurt,” said the longtime employee of Budget Transmission Quality Tube and Hose in Johnstown.





The CSX gondola train cars slammed into the Budget Transmission, Quality Tube and Hose business at 340 Bedford St.

Althought three men were working in the building at the time of the accident, emergency crews on the scene said there were no injuries.

In addition to the damage to the business, a pickup parked nearby was “totally obliterated.”

Emergency personnel and CSX employees respond to a train derailment in downtown Johnstown on Thursday.


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Four cars from a CSX Corp. train derailed just before noon Thursday at a busy intersection in Johnstown, skidding across Bedford Street before striking Budget Transmission and Rietscha’s Ford Ranger.

Somehow, no one was hurt.

“There are people who walk here and ride bicycles every day, so we’re very fortunate,” said Pat Lape, Johnstown Fire Department deputy chief.

Parts of Bedford and Haynes streets, as well as the Route 56 Bedford Street exit ramp, remained closed late Thursday as officials awaited a CSX cleanup crew.

The train – consisting of two locomotives and six freight cars – runs from Rockwood to Johnstown and was “preparing to head back” to the Somerset County town when it derailed, CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said.

“The cause is under investigation,” he said.

Johnstown police Officer Erin Kabler, on his way to an emergency call in the city’s Moxham neighborhood, was behind the wheel of the first car in line at the train crossing when the incident happened.

“I saw the front wheels (of one car) hopping, and they popped off the track,” Kabler said.

“My first concern was, is there anybody in that garage bay – and what’s in these cars,” he added.

No one was in the affected bay, and the derailed cars were empty.

When the train came to a stop, both engines and the first two freight cars – loaded with what appeared to be scrap metal – remained on the track.

The car that hit Budget Transmission was stuck in the gravel and dirt beside the business. And the final rail car – its wheels having dug grooves in the pavement – stopped just feet short of the building.

Some speculated that, if the car had been fully loaded, it would have plowed through Budget Transmission and possibly into the Stonycreek River.

Rietscha said the train “made a racket” as it approached.

“The trains come by here all the time, but you could hear it getting louder and louder,” he said.

Across the street, an employee at CoGo’s gas station was alarmed by the noise.

“This was really loud,” Jennifer Muller said. “It sounded like it was rocking back and forth on the tracks.”

Rietscha and two co-workers fled Budget Transmission safely. They watched as city firefighters worked to erect a brace to stabilize the front corner of the structure.

Sullivan said CSX “will be in contact with the business to address the damages to the building.”

That presumably would include the damages to Rietscha’s truck, which he parked beside Budget Transmission every day.

One observer noted that the CSX engineer brought the train to a halt relatively quickly. That was small comfort for Rietscha.

“I wish he’d of stopped a little quicker,” he said.



Tribune-Democrat City Editor Arlene Johns contributed to this story.

        

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