Cleanup operations after a freight train derailed in Mansfield Depot on Thursday have made “considerable progress,” town officials said. The shelter-in-place order for the area has been lifted and affected railcars have been removed from the Willimantic River.
“A couple of the cars that could be up righted and put back on the tracks have been put back on the tracks,” John Roache, Mansfield’s fire chief, said on Saturday. “They’re in a cornfield…so they’re stabilized.”
The derailment happened on Thursday morning near the Eagleville Pond and involved a New England Central Railroad (NECR) consist with 41 cars and two locomotives, according to officials. 10 cars derailed and landed on their sides, six of which were carrying liquid propane fuel. Several cars fell into the Willimantic River.
No injuries were reported and no leaks were detected from the cars containing propane, according to officials. However, a spill of food-grade grease had to be mitigated.
Stafford Road, also known as Connecticut Route 32, will remain closed to motorists between South Eagleville Road and Route 44 East for the week, Roache said, but residents will have access to their homes.
“While everything is safe and stable right now, there is always the potential of an accident or something happening,” he said. “So we ask people to maintain a safe distance away from [the scene]. If you can see the railcars, you’re probably a little too close.”
At the briefing, Mansfield Mayor Antonia Moran expressed gratitude for the support provided by local first responders and state agencies through the cleanup.
“It’s not a simple project,” she said. “People worked long hours in the snow and the cold, and so they needed shelter, they needed food, they needed respite, they needed warmth…The support and, well, just plain help, came from all directions.”
The NECR freight train involved in the derailment originated in Palmer, Mass. and was en route southbound toward Willimantic. Officials are investigating to determine a specific cause.