East Penn Railroad train derailment in Chester County part of "very scary" trend
NEWLIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- There's new information on a train that derailed in Chester County, narrowly missing a woman's home. Eyewitness News first showed you the scene two weeks ago.
It was the second time an East Penn Railroad train jumped the tracks in her yard.
Everything has been cleaned up, but Trudie Powell's yard is completely torn up.
Powell's been scared ever since this happened and now, she's even more concerned after learning the railroad that passes through her backyard has had a number of other accidents over the years.
"You can see where the grass is brown," Powell said. "That's where they landed."
Six rail cars have now been removed from Powell's backyard in Chester County nearly two weeks after a train jumped the tracks and narrowly missed her porch.
Practically any loud noise still has Powell shaking.
"I don't want it to happen again," Powell said, "and I guess it's just the trauma of it. It's scary."
Powell was sitting outside when an East Penn Railroad train derailed.
Axels and wheel wells went flying and railcars loaded with lumber and flour flipped and landed on their side.
"My pool is destroyed," Powell said. "My backyard is destroyed, all the trees wiped out. I'm still waiting to hear about the septic system."
Powell says she is also still waiting to hear what caused this derailment.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there have been seven other derailments involving the East Penn Railroad since 2011 -- in northern Delaware, Chester and Bucks Counties, totaling nearly a million dollars in damage.
FRA regulations require reporting of accidents when they exceed $11,000.
"Very scary," Powell said. "I was not aware of that, like what are they not doing correctly?"
East Penn has not returned Eyewitness News' calls since Aug. 19. We've been told the president is on the phone or out of town, so we went to his office in Kennet Square on Tuesday but again were told he's on a conference call and was unavailable.
"Unbelievable. Why? I don't get it," Powell said. "If they don't have anything to hide, they should be answering your calls."
Eyewitness News has also reached out to county and state officials. They either declined comment or haven't responded.
The FRA says a report is due by the end of September by East Penn identifying a probable cause of this latest derailment.
