NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — On Monday morning, police and hazmat officials were called to a Seneca Avenue home in Niagara Falls where a train car derailed off of its tracks and crashed into a nearby resident's garage.
2 On Your Side went to the scene where we could see that the CSX train engine actually went through a bumper on the track and gravel berms and then crashed into the garage behind the home at the intersection of 35th and Seneca Streets.
Later on Monday afternoon CSX rail crews using tracked lifting vehicles were able to remove the train engine and restore the property. They also cleaned up the spilled diesel fuel.
Many neighbors were standing outside to see the wreckage for themselves.
Homeowner Dean Harris says his wife and brother-in-law were home when the incident happened shortly after 8 AM. They were not hurt but obviously were quite surprised. Harris says "My wife has a room in the back and she opened the curtain to see the roof of the train engine covering their patio after it smashed through the garage. "
Harris says a car and his Harley motorcycle were in the garage with some of his tools. They are hoping that the motorcycle at least was intact.
The train locomotive which can weigh up to 400,000 pounds car was part of the CSX rail line which is a leading supplier based in North America, according to the CSX website. On their website, it says, "With approximately 20,000 miles of track, access to over 70 ports and nationwide transloading and warehousing services."
That rail line runs behind the Seneca Avenue neighborhood where the train car crashed. A neighbor at the scene spoke to the 2 On Your Side and said this had happened once before, nearly 30 years ago, but said this crash was much worse with damage. There is a switch track behind the home which is used by CSX to pick up rail cars.
That previous incident happened in the 1990's and the grandparents of Harris's wife were living in the home at the time before they sold the property to her.
Niagara Falls Fire Chief Gary Pochatko says the cause is under investigation by CSX but it is believed the brakes failed on the locomotive which was being operated remotely from the CSX Niagara Railyard behind the residential neighborhood.
About 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the engine's ruptured tanks and had to be cleaned up as well following the incident. The New York State DEC and DOT, City of Niagara Falls Police and Fire, CSX, DOT, and other local officials were at the scene investigating.