East Aurora Advertiser

Railroad Says Its Track Crew Left Switch Unlocked in Train Derailment in East Aurora



The Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) says its track crew left a siding switch unlocked, leading to the derailment in May that shook homes and businesses in the heart of East Aurora, but resulted in no injuries or significant damage to surrounding property.

In a self-report to the Federal Railway Administration the BPRR said that track engineering employees were being assessed with the blame for the accident because they had “left the switch unlocked and had inspected and operated through that switch earlier in the day…”

The company stopped short of saying the employees left the tracks aligned improperly for the siding, speculating that there was the “likelihood of a trespasser stepping on the latch causing the tight and unlocked switch handle to spring up and over to rest on top of the opposite side.”

Federal regulations require railroads to report certain incidents and self-reports do not represent the official findings of the Federal Railway Administration.

The quiet serenity of a village in quarantine came to a screeching halt on May 18 as a northbound train to Buffalo derailed just over the Main Street overpass in East Aurora. The accident occurred just before 11 p.m. The freight train had two people on board, an engineer and an apprentice, and neither person was injured. No injuries were reported on the ground, and there was no damage to neighboring buildings along the route.

Local first responders evacuated 41 homes along the tracks as a precaution.

At the time Police Chief Shane Krieger said, “It was better than we ever could have expected with a train derailment. We were lucky on how it derailed, where it derailed, and everything else. Other than the diesel fuel, no other hazardous materials were released and there were no explosions. We were extremely lucky that no houses or buildings were struck.”

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