Train car derails, lands in creek in Fayette County

A train car derailed Thursday in Upper Tyrone, flipping off the track and landing in a small tributary of Jacobs Creek, according to Fayette County 911.

No injuries were reported.

An estimated few hundred gallons of a flammable industrial solvent, known as HF1000, leaked into the stream, according to Jim Bittner, hazmat director for the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency.

First responders got the leak under control, and the solvent is not expected to pose a threat to fish or wildlife around Jacobs Creek or the Youghiogheny River.

“We got the leak stopped as soon as we were able to get down there,” Bittner said.

The car, owned by Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, was standing on the track by itself, unattached to a train.

It has been dropped off on a stretch of track near the corner of Broadford and Woods roads around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, about an hour before the derailment. The plan was for another train to come and take it into the nearby borough of Everson, according to Bittner.

Officials believe the train’s breaks were faulty, Bittner said. A device called a derailer intentionally flips a car off the track if the brakes fail, to prevent the car from rolling away, potentially endangering a populated area.

Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad is expected to get the car back on the tracks. Railroad officials could not be reached for comment.