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Train Derailment Near Monroe County

UPPER MOUNT BETHEL TOWNSHIP — A train is off the tracks in Northampton County and crews are working on how to clean up the wreck. Crews say a Delaware-Lac...

UPPER MOUNT BETHEL TOWNSHIP -- A train is off the tracks in Northampton County and crews are working on how to clean up the wreck.

Crews say a Delaware-Lackawanna train derailed around 4 p.m. Saturday behind the Slateford Inn south of Stroudsburg on the Monroe and Northampton County line.

Days after this train derailed on its way to Scranton, the cars still sit tipped over. Hundreds of tons of sand dumped just next to the Delaware River.

Victor Kopczuk lives in the apartments overlooking the Slateford Yard train tracks just outside of Monroe County. This is where things got off track Saturday afternoon.

"All of a sudden, this little bit louder clang and bang than usual and someone yelled 'the train's going over,'" Kopczuk said.

"It just literally fell over.  And it wasn't as loud as you would think.  It was kind of a little noisy, but it wasn't too bad," said Jennifer Jacobsen, a worker at the Slateford Inn.

Jacobsen works inside the bar next to the tracks and also caught all of the commotion.

Officials with the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad say this train was carrying mostly sand.  It was scheduled to go from Scranton to Carbondale where the sand would be unloaded and trucked to Wyoming County to be used for "fracking" at natural gas drilling sites.

Now railroad officials say the cleanup could cost up to $100,000.

Many people at the inn believe it all happened because the rails are in rough shape.

"The tracks haven't been in great shape around here.  They're pretty dilapidated and just last year they lowered the speed limit on the tracks," Kopczuk added.

The train was also carrying some petroleum. That car came close to tipping over too but held tight to the track.

Now people who live and work near the derailment say they're waiting for the cleanup crews to arrive.

"They're supposed to come and clean that up and have cranes come in, so we'll see," said Jacobsen.

While others are making plans for if the sand sticks around for awhile

"They wanted to have a beach volleyball tournament but I don't think that's going to happen," said Kopczuk

Officials with the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad expect the derailment to cleaned up by the end of the week.

 

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