Emergency crews work at the scene of a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
Three cars went off the tracks in a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
Three cars went off the tracks in a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
Emergency crews work at the scene of a freight train derailment near Long's Park.
Emergency crews work at the scene of a freight train derailment near Long's Park.
Three cars went off the tracks in a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
Emergency crews work at the scene of a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
Emergency crews work at the scene of a freight train derailment Friday morning near Long's Park.
A freight train derailed Friday near Long's Park, sending three cars off the track.
Harrisburg Pike was temporarily closed after the derailment, which occurred just after 9 a.m. Long's Park also was closed for a time.
Workers likely will be surveying the damages and cleaning up the wreckage throughout the weekend.
The Norfolk Southern train derailed shortly after it left the railway's yard behind the U.S. post office on Harrisburg Pike.
The westbound train derailed in the area just east of the Long's Park pond, on the Manheim Pike side of the tracks.
The train was headed to Lititz, said Dave Pidgeon, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.
One derailed car, holding ethyl alcohol, stayed upright and didn't spill any of its load, Pidgeon said.
A second car, carrying sugar, fell onto its side. A small amount of sugar leaked from the car, Pidgeon said.
The third car, an open-bed carrying aluminum, also tipped onto its side. The load didn't spill, Pidgeon said.
Crews were using large machinery to remove the cars, officials said. That cleanup was expected to be finished Friday night.
Repairs to the tracks, however, will be made by Amtrak and could take longer. A tentative plan is to have the tracks open to trains by Monday, Pidgeon said.
The cause of the derailment was being looked into, Pidgeon said.
There is a speed limit of 10 mph for trains in that area, he said.
"I don't know how fast the train was going," Pidgeon said Friday evening. "We can't comment on what we're investigating, but we're looking into all possible factors."
Lancaster city police Lt. Chris Laser said Amtrak's Keystone Line passenger trains kept running on a parallel track and were not affected by the accident.
No one was hurt, officials said.
View reader-submitted images of the derailment on YouShare.
