Final report on train accident could take at least nine months

JACKSON TOWNSHIP | Federal officials are investigating Friday's crash involving three trains that left two crew members injured, but a final report won't be released for at least nine months.

Ted Turpin, investigator-in-charge with the National Transportation Safety Board, said a team of investigators from across the country is working on the crash that involved three CSX freight trains. Investigators are analyzing a variety of variables, including operations, signals, possible human error and the track. However, he said the track had little to do with the crash.

As he spoke Saturday morning, parts of the wreckage still smoldered in the background.

A train had stopped on the tracks about 1:18 p.m. Friday around County Road 600 North and County Road 500 East to allow another train to run around it. A second train came up behind the stopped train and struck it from behind. The third train, which was supposed to go around the first train, struck the wreckage from the first two trains, Turpin said.

There were six crew members involved in the crash and two were injured. They were treated and released from Porter hospital in Valparaiso.

Turpin said the NTSB would collect physical evidence, check the system's signals, conduct interviews and gather records of prior inspections to help with the investigation. Each train has an event recorder used to document information such as train speed. Crews cleaning up the site still are looking for the recorder for the second train. The third train involved was traveling at 57 miles per hour. The NTSB team expects to be at the site for the next three to four days, he said.

All three trains were headed to Chicago from either New Jersey or Ohio. While Turpin didn't know exactly how many cars derailed, the first train had 77 cars, the second had 60 cars and the third had 48 cars.

On Saturday, a seemingly endless row of trucks and machinery lined County Road 600 North and construction equipment worked the ground around the site. Derailed cars were sprinkled across nearby farmland, some blackened from Friday's flames.

Tom Livingston, resident vice president for CSX Corp., said the company doesn't have a conclusive time frame yet for cleanup. However, he said, the track is a key arterial freight line for the company. Trains are being rerouted around the accident. No passenger trains use the route, he said.

"We'll have measurable numbers in time, but the most important thing is the safety of the site right now."

Porter County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Larry LaFlower said roads around the crash site are closed for the weekend.