A Train Wreck

On Thursday, my best friend sent me a text message that said, "You OK?? The train wreck around you."

I replied and said, "Huh? Train wreck? Where? That's like so five years ago." (The "so five years ago" was in reference to the train derailment that happened a mere mile or two away from my house in 2007.)

She quickly replied, "No! Now! By your house! Now!"

I rolled my eyes and sent a quick, sarcastic, "Stupid CSX," and let her know my family and I were fine.

When my friend texted me, we weren't at home and we hadn't heard anything about a train wreck. I quickly checked the website of a local news station to figure out what my friend was talking about.

It turns out there was another train derailment. We were at home when it happened, sitting on our back deck, eating lunch. We didn't hear anything. A couple of helicopters flew overhead, but because Louisville is a sizable city, that's not really anything unusual. We had no idea it had happened until a few hours later.

Fortunately, this time there were no hazardous chemicals on the train. We were not told to evacuate. The train cars that derailed were all carrying cars and trucks. This derailment was no where near the size of the 2007 derailment (which was the largest in Kentucky). Witnesses say they saw a semi-truck hit the railroad track a little while before the train derailment and CSX is currently looking for the driver of that truck.

The real kicker? It happened in almost the exact same spot as the 2007 train derailment. It was so close to the same spot that the train cars from Thursday were dragged across the road to the area that was fenced off in 2007 to hold the train cars from that derailment.

On a related note, let this serve as a reminder. Make sure you have a plan in place for your pets in case an evacuation is needed.