YOUNGSTOWN & amp; SOUTHERN RAILWAY Train car jumps track at crossing

The railroad should be operational today.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- A Youngstown & amp; Southern Railway train fell short of its destination Wednesday because one of the train's cars went off the track.
In the early afternoon, passers-by slowed to observe the motionless train with one car tilting to the side at the Southern Boulevard and Maple Avenue crossing. Displaced earth could be seen in the wake of the train where it had traveled off the track. Several unidentified workers stood around the derailed train trying to get the car back on track.
Tracy Drake, chief executive officer of the Columbiana County Port Authority, which operates the railroad, said the train went off track at a crossing that was not repaired in the $2 million upgrade process the railroad has undergone in the last several years.
He said the crossing was thought to have been in usable condition. "Obviously it wasn't, so now it will be repaired," he added.
After the car went off the track, Drake said, it continued to travel damaging between 300 and 400 feet of track. He said the damage is estimated to be between $10,000 and $20,000.
No property damage
No one was injured and there was no damage to property other than the railroad track. Drake said a train derailment at low speed leaves little room for injury.
Trains running on the Y & amp;S Railway travel between 8 and 10 mph, he said.
Drake said the port authority hired crews to work through the night repairing the damage. He said the railroad should be operational sometime today.
Drake said he does not believe there are any more crossings that need to be replaced. He said extensive upgrade work has been done to the entire line.
"We have repaired almost all the crossings and all the lines to the Pennsylvania border so the track is in certifiable condition to run on," he said.
The railway is a 36-mile line running from Youngstown to Darlington, Pa. It was first used in 2001 after several years of inactivity.
jgoodwin@vindy.com