According to a press release issued by the Amherst Fire Department, "the two leading cars, which were dry bulk cars, had been tipped over on their side, partially spilling their contents of crushed limstone. The cars originally held about 100 tons each."
The train, which originated from St. Albans, Vt. and was heading towards Connecticut, contained about 70 cars.
The two overturned cars were still next to the tracks as of Monday and according to a worker at the scene, will have to be cut up before they are removed. The other three cars were put back on the tracks Saturday and dragged to a siding north of Amherst. R.J. Corman Derailment Services of Newburgh, N.Y., a company that specializes in train derailment cleanup, headed these efforts.
Peter J. Lloyd Excavating of Monson and ECI Engineers Construction of South Burlington, Vt. repaired 240 feet of damaged track on Saturday.
Amherst town police and firefighters responded to the accident at 2:16 a.m. on Saturday when an alarm sounded at the Amtrak station near Railroad Street. Police told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that the alarm was probably triggered when the train derailed and shook the ground. The cause of the train's derailment was unknown.
"No injuries were reported and at this time no hazard is noted," reads the Amherst Fire Department's summary of the incident. "Damage [was] confined to the freight cars and tracks, including the adjacent depot platform."
Rail service was stopped and Railroad Street was blocked off all Saturday and into Sunday.