Appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's multiple news platforms in August 2018. The Post-Gazette's site is paywall activated and imposes a limit of free stories per month. This is the story as published but can also be found on the Post-Gazette's site here. This happened on a Sunday, when I was the news editor.  So i collaborated with two other staff writers to report on a very significant news event.

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BY  ANTHONY CONROY

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A westbound freight train traveling along the Norfolk Southern Railway main line near Station Square derailed Sunday afternoon, forcing Port Authority to suspend light-rail service at that station and close the Smithfield Street Bridge and the nearby section of Carson Street.

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Emergency crews said no one was injured when seven intermodal rail cars carrying double-stacked shipping containers went off the tracks shortly after 1 p.m. and tumbled down the hillside, with some cargo containers dangling just above the road used by Port Authority’s light-rail and bus lines. No hazardous materials were involved in the incident.

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Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said that while the removal of rail cars will now be a “massive” undertaking for Norfolk Southern and disrupt the commutes of motorists and Port Authority riders, the incident could have been far worse.

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“We came very close to having a tragedy, as close as it was to the T station,” Mr. Hissrich said. “We are very fortunate. ... The cars could have potentially come down onto a T car or onto Carson Street.”

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The cars derailed only several hundred feet east of the T stop across from the Smithfield Street Bridge. The station had passengers who were quickly evacuated, and both inbound and outbound rail service was suspended.

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Port Authority CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said an off-board fare collector, whom she knew only as “Princess,” helped out. “As soon as she saw [the derailment], she cleared people on both platforms. She kept everyone calm.” 

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The Station Square T stop will be out of use for several days, as well as the section of Carson between the Smithfield Street Bridge and Arlington Avenue. The bridge itself could open at some point Monday. Ride sharing service Lyft said late Sunday it would offer 50 percent discounts to riders between 5 and 10 a.m. Monday. Riders must use the code “412COMMUTE” to access the discount.

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“You can count on a long rush hour tomorrow,” said Chris Togneri, the city’s public safety spokesman.

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Ms. Kelleman said that to help ease frustrations for attendees of Sunday’s Pirates game and the Three Rivers Regatta, the Port Authority began using shuttle buses from T stations in Downtown and the North Shore to the South Hills Junction. She also said the authority would use the Brown Line that runs from Downtown and turns up Arlington Avenue instead of the transit tunnel at Station Square.

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Several rail cars dangling from the tracks down the hillside to the T line tracks could be seen plainly by pedestrians and bicyclists on the bridge and traversing the parking lot east of Station Square. Many stopped to gawk and take photos.

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Aside from making sure no one was injured by the derailment, Mr. Hissrich said, the top priority for first responders was determining that no hazardous materials were being transported. Instead, the train was full of retail store commodities and household items. The one product he took note to point out was the mouthwash Listerine, because he said its odor could be detected by many South Side residents.

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“You may smell it, but it’s nothing to be concerned about,” he said, although storm drains would be covered to prevent any of the mouthwash from getting into the drain system.

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Mr. Hissrich said the 24-to-72-hour operation by Norfolk Southern to remove the derailed cars would require erecting a tall crane on Carson Street and using it to bring those cars down to street level for removal. Equipment was being trucked in Sunday night, and that operation was unlikely to begin before Monday.

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“My understanding is the cars will have to be moved down [to Carson], unloaded and then they will have to figure out any repairs that need to be done to the tracks,” the public safety director said. “My understanding is Norfolk Southern has trains backed up, and they want this removed as quickly and safely as possible.”

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Jon Glass, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, said Sunday afternoon that the railway would begin moving cars through “two divisions of a contract company that specializes in rerailing rail cars and derailment cleanup.” He said two additional excavators “are en route.” In addition to the dangling cars, others along the tracks ahead of them had derailed in less precarious fashion and will have to be dealt with.

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“Current estimates are that the rail cars will be cleared from the tracks within about 72 hours,” Mr. Glass said of the entire process.

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Mr. Glass said the 7,687-foot-long, 4,838-ton train was heading west to Chicago from New Jersey. He said the train consisted of three locomotives and 57 loaded intermodal rail cars, which he said are mainly used in carrying consumer goods. 

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Mr. Glass said the cause is under investigation, but the railroad has ruled out an initial suspicion that rock slides that have been common in the area were to blame.

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City deputy fire Chief Michael Mullen said a light-rail train had passed through the area just below the derailment site minutes before the crash. He also said the rail line is frequently used to move petroleum products. “Fortunately, there [were] no fracking oil cars. They come through here regularly,” he said.

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Service on the Monongahela Incline also was suspended Sunday afternoon as a precaution.

Mr. Glass said Norfolk Southern apologizes for the “major disruption.”