Published: July 02, 2009 09:15 am      

Coal train derails near Atlanta, damages tracks

UNION CITY, Ga. (AP) — Seventeen cars of a coal train derailed and overturned in south Fulton County, spilling coal but causing no injuries.

CSX Corp. spokesman Gary Sease said the train derailed around 1:58 p.m. Wednesday in Union City, about 20 miles south of Atlanta. He said the train was carrying no hazardous materials.

Sease said it had two locomotives and 100 cars, each of which holds about 100 tons of coal. It was traveling from Ravena, Ky. to Red Level Junction, Fla.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company sent teams to the scene to fix the track, recover spilled coal and put the cars back on the track.

Sease said the derailed cars “stacked like an accordion” and likely caused “fairly significant damage” to the tracks, which are only used to move freight.