At look back at previous derailments in East Palestine

While the train derailment in East Palestine that happened this week was serious because of the hazardous materials that spilled and burned, however, this isn't the first time that trains have derailed in the village.

There have been two previous derailments in East Palestine in recent decades.

An Amtrak train, the Broadway Limited, the fastest passenger train of the era, derailed in East Palestine March 19, 1961, causing it to slam into the Adamson Manufacturing Company. The derailment tore off the entire south side of the manufacturing which killed one and 20 were sent to the hospital.

Another derailment happened in August 1973, when five diesel engines derailed, along with 37 cars. The derailment dumped tons of fluxing stone, which was used in the steel mills along the tracks.

The rail line that runs through East Palestine and through many Valley communities, including New Waterford, Columbiana, Salem, Sebring and Beloit in the Valley. The line is the Fort Wayne line, which from to east to west goes from Pittsburgh through the Valley, and attaches to other rail lines in the Valley, including Youngstown, Cleveland, Lordstown and more.

Ohio is one of the top four states as far as train derailments, with 128 derailments between 2018 through 2021, according to data from the US Department of Transportation. The damage was estimated for the four years was $548,008,538.

The top three states were Texas (188), Georgia (152), and Illinois (151).

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, the number of derailments in the Valley from 2019 through 2022 included:

Mahoning County: One derailment in 2019, and one in 2022.

Trumbull County: One derailment in 2019 and one in 2021.

Columbiana County: The last derailment was in 2019.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, Norfolk Southern Railway had the most derailments of all railroad companies in Ohio from 2019 through 2022, with 67 accidents total – 22 in 2019; 18 in 2020, 15 in 2021 and 13 in 2022.

According to the US Department of Transportation, Norfolk Southern had 589 derailments between January to November of last year. Union Pacific had 1,338 derailments while BNSF Railway Company had 1,053 in the same time period.