Cleanup continues from derailment
Leader photo by Nancy Bergeron
Rail cars lie wrecked Monday afternoon after a Sunday morning train derailment near Hwy. 563 east of Simsboro. Below, a capture from drone footage shows the full scene from Sunday morning.
Photo courtesy of Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office
SIMSBORO — Cleanup continued Monday at the site of a weekend train derailment between Grambling and Simsboro.
For what authorities say are still unknown reasons, 19 cars of a westbound Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight train left the track just east of Hwy. 563 at approximately 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
Though two of the cars were carrying hazardous materials, neither ruptured. One of the cars was loaded with lube oil and the other with hydrogen peroxide.
The remaining cars had only residue from other substances, Lincoln Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Kip Franklin said.
CPKC crews had the wreckage cleared from the track and new rail laid by Sunday evening. Hwy. 563 at Braswell Lane and Hwy. 150 at Hyatt Road were reopened to motorists Monday morning.
Trains resumed running along the track Sunday night but at slower speeds.
“This couldn’t have happened in a better location as far as logistics are concerned,” Franklin said.
The long, flat stretch of affected track is near the former Ardagh Group glass plant and easily accessible to repair crews.
“All they had to do was pull everything up to the track and get busy,” Franklin said.
The train was westbound when the incident occurred. Drone footage of the derailment shows some of the derailed cars landed on their side and others accordioned together. The engine stayed on the track.
Residents in the area sheltered in place for several hours Sunday until officials confirmed there was no danger and no need for evacuation.
“We got lucky” Franklin said. “We’re in a really good area. It’s a quarter mile or better to the closest residence,” Franklin said.
The CPKC had not replied to a request for comment as of Monday afternoon.
Sunday’s incident is now the second in Lincoln Parish in a little more than a year, the last being a 23-car derailment near Choudrant in August 2023.
