Three Derailments, One Hot Mess
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The Panola County derailment involved 27 derailed cars carrying corn and sulfuric acid, according to Panola County Emergency Operations.
DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
We made national news in Mississippi after three trains derailed in different locations around the state last weekend.
This unusual cluster started just after midnight on Friday, July 4, in Petal when a Norfolk Southern train derailed 18 cars, including tanker cars carrying denatured alcohol, which spilled.
The second derailment followed on Saturday, July 5, on Canadian National (CN)’s Yazoo Subdivision near Glendora in neighboring Tallahatchie County. Thirteen rail cars jumped the track, including at least six tanker cars carrying benzene—a toxic and highly flammable chemical. The fire that followed burned for approximately nine hours.
I read where up to 30 fire trucks from a dozen departments responded, using a specialized foam and water mix to put it out in an effort that took long hours.
Then on Sunday, July 6, another derailment occurred just north of Sardis on Highway 51 in Panola County. That one happened around 1 p.m. Panola County Emergency Operations cleared the area, with law enforcement and the Sardis Fire Department responding to the scene. No injuries were reported, but officials said cleanup could take several days.
Sunday’s derailment was particularly interesting. The CN train that derailed was operating on the Grenada Railroad while CN’s mainline was shut down from Saturday’s fire. There were a lot of local railroad enthusiasts excited to see CN traffic—if only temporarily—back on the old Illinois Central line that runs through the western edge of Yalobusha County.
Word spread on social media that CN trains would be detouring along the Grenada Railway line from Canton to Memphis. Motorists were advised to pay extra attention at crossings with the expected increase in train traffic. Sadly, the first southbound detour train made it only a little past Como before derailing.
A Canadian National (CN) train sits stopped on the Grenada Railway line in Panola County on Sunday after a derailment on the route—one of three in Mississippi over the weekend that disrupted traffic on CN’s main line and the detour line.
Who knows—if it hadn’t derailed, the City of New Orleans might have made a run or two through the county. That would have been something to see.
Nostalgia aside, Yalobusha County EMA Director Stewart Spence told county supervisors Monday that there’s potential for periodic increased rail traffic on the Grenada line. He explained that CN does use the line as a detour route when needed. Spence had already shared the news on Facebook and reached out to fire chiefs in Oakland and Scobey to help build local awareness.
I haven’t seen any official reports about the cause of the derailments, but I have seen a lot of speculation that heat had something to do with it. According to Google, steel rails expand in extreme temperatures, and with Mississippi’s July sun bearing down all weekend, it’s not a stretch to think it may have played a role. Let’s add “derailing trains” to the long, sweaty list of things Mississippi heat does best.
