30 Cars From a Coal Train Derail North of Winchester Thursday

Thursday morning a south-bound coal train derailed between Winchester and Northrup along FM 448. According to a Union Pacific spokesperson, 30 cars derailed, but no one was injured. Many of those train cars spilled large amounts of coal alongside the tracks which parallel this rural stretch of highway near the Fayette/Lee County line, about eight miles south of Giddings. Union Pacific did not know a cause of the incident at press time. There were no homes near the site of the derailment. Amazingly, the wreckage was cleared, the track repaired and trains were again running on that stretch of line by mid-morning Friday, according to local train expert Bill Karisch.