U.S.

No One Aboard

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

May 15, 2001 / 3:07 PM EDT / CBS

A runaway freight train carrying paper, lumber and two tanker cars of chemicals rolled through northwest Ohio on Tuesday with no one aboard before a railroad employee jumped aboard and stopped it, authorities said.

The CSX train of 47 cars traveled at speeds close to 50 mph through farm fields and cities, including Bowling Green and Findlay.

News helicopters tracked the odyssey across two counties and 66 miles to the quiet farm town of Kenton, Ohio, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr.

Jon Hosfeld, a 31-year employee of CSX, jumped on the train when it was slowed to about 10 mph near Kenton, about 55 miles northwest of Columbus, CSX spokesman Dan Murphy said.

Hosfeld ran alongside the train, grabbed a railing on the locomotive, pulled himself up and stopped it in freshly plowed fields.

Another engine had been hooked to the back of the train to slow it down.

No injuries were reported. At one point, police briefly evacuated about 100 workers at a meat processing factory near the village of North Baltimore when authorities attempted to stop the train.

CSX is not sure how or why the train left a rail yard, Murphy said.

"This train was not supposed to be 66 miles from Toledo today," he said.

He said the 47-car train was being assembled on a local track in CSX's Stanley facility, near Toledo. It was then supposed to be moved to a departure track in order to be moved to the Norfolk Southern yard, also in Stanley.

Several witnesses saw the train leaving and alerted CSX officials. Murphy said the train reached a top speed of about 45 miles per hour.

The Hancock County Sheriff's Department earlier had said authorities had not been able to contact the engineer and initially believed the crew member had suffered a heart attack.

However, Gerlene Draper, a Kenton police dispatcher, said no one was aboard the train. She said the brakes had failed.

The train carried weed killer and other flammable chemicals, said Kelli Blackwell, spokeswoman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. She did not know the types of chemicals.

CSX railroad policeman John Harris said there was minor damage to some cars but would not elaborate. He said the cars would be repaired before the train is moved.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Railroad Administration and others are investigating, Murphy said.

At one point, near Findlay, authorities tried to derail the train, which was clocked at 46 miles per hour, said Robert Ruse, Findlay's safety director.

The train rolled past houses and factories in Findlay, sometimes passing through backyards and within 50 feet of some homes, said Hancock County Chief Deputy Doug Wilcox. There were no evacuations in the city of about 40,000.

"We were prepared for it, but we didn't need to," Wilcox said.

Patrol cars sped ahead of the train to block crossings and deputies tried to peer inside the train.

The train's route also took it through farm fields and severa villages in northwest Ohio, at times running parallel to Interstate 75.

It also ran through downtown Bowling Green, a city of about 29,600, and near Bowling Green State University.

"It would have been a disaster if it would've derailed in town," said Wood County sheriff's Sgt. Major Mike Blair.

Tuesday's incident is certain to re-ignite debate about equipment to prevent rail collisions and stop runaway trains. The technology exists, but so far the government hasn't required it and most freight railroads haven't spent the millions needed to have it installed.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, 2,969 train accidents nationwide in 2000, up 7.3 percent from the previous year. More than 12,000 people were injured and 933 killed in last year's accidents

CSX had 476 safety incidents last year, the third-most behind Union Pacific (756) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (573). The railroad has more miles of track in Ohio than in any other state — 2,299.