Neighbors of ours who are long-term residents of Ashland have graciously researched the 1969 derailment that occurred just north of Ashland. Here are some of the facts to do with that event.
- 28 cars of a freight train “jumped the tracks”.
- The cars were loaded with steel, paper and miscellaneous freight. There is no record of a tank car containing a Highly Hazardous Chemical as being part of the consist.
- The cars traveled up to three car-lengths away from the tracks.
- There had been another, similar derailment in Hanover County less than a month earlier.
- There were no injuries.
- Both accidents were due to a “journal failure”.
The pictures show some scans from the Herald-Progress and the Times Dispatch. We have also shown a sketch and a picture of the journals used on rail cars.