Residents living along railroad tracks in the region wonder about their situation

Feb. 18—NORTHFORK — Trains long ago became part of the region's landscape. Hardly anyone looks up as freight trains rumbled through their communities and often close to their homes and businesses, but more people are looking up and wondering after a train hauling hazardous chemicals derailed not far from the West Virginia border.

A Norfolk Southern train hauling hazardous materials such as toxic vinyl chloride derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, Ohio. No one with injured in the crash, but there are concerns about contamination after some of the cargo was burned off to avoid an uncontrolled explosion.

Southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia have seen their own shares of train crashes. A major Norfolk Southern railroad yard is located in Bluefield, and train tracks crisscross much of the region. Trains hauling coal, freight and tanker cars are seen daily, and motorists frequently have to stop at crossings as trains rumble by.

For many people, trains are part of the everyday sights and sounds, but this continuous rail traffic brings joy to people who love trains and the history behind them. One enthusiast, the Evangelist Tim Hairston of Upland, is a familiar figure who is often seen shooting photographs of locomotives visiting Bluefield and other areas. He's known for his many photos of Norfolk Southern trains ranging from modern to vintage, but photos of derailments are part of his extensive collection.

Driving through Bluefield, Hairston said that disasters like the one in Ohio likely never cross the minds of people living near railroad tracks. They don't think that a train might derail within sight of their homes or even closer.

"We live our lives every day thinking nothing will happen and something can happen at any moment," he remarked.

Following trains and looking for good vantages points for photography have revealed many combinations of roads, railroads and communities that leave residents either stranded at their homes or barred from them if a train stops, let alone derails. He pointed out areas such as Ada Road near Bluefield where residents would have no way out if a train crash blocks the local crossings. The situation would be even worse if the train is hauling chemicals because then they could neither drive or walk out.

"They're stuck because there's no way out," Hairston said. "No way out. If something happens, they are struck."

Hairston drove to McDowell County and pointed out similar situations among the communities along U.S. Route 52. The railroad lines go through them.

At Houston Hill Road off Route 52, resident Daniel Green and several other men were about to cut up a tree that had fallen on the road. Green lives in a nearby house, and his mother, sister and son are his neighbors. The railroad crossing was less than 100 feet away.

Green has witnessed what can happen if a train just stops on the tracks. There's no way around it.

"Oh yea, of course," he said. "If that happens, you're not going nowhere."

Derailments have not been a problem, but Green knew about the Ohio train crash.

"We've never had a problem with anything like that, but you never know what's going to happen," he said.

Trudy Bertram of Valley View Road off Route 52 said that she had not heard about the Ohio crash, but added that her family has been trapped at their home or barred from it by trains before. If an accident immobilizes a train, it doesn't have to happen at the tracks within sight of her house.

"Sometimes we can't get in when the train just stops on the tracks," she said. "A few years ago we had some guests and there was a derailment in Kimball and they had to stay overnight. They couldn't get out."

Hairston then led the way down a narrow gravel road called Copper Hill Drive. From there, residents can look down at the railroad. Edward Ivy said if a train stops or breaks down, he can't get out and neither can his neighbors. A major derailment would be even worse.

"They fine us if they catch us on the tracks, so we have to use the road," Ivy said. "I've called and complained, and they say OK we're working on it and they say they will call back, but they never do."

Ivy knew about the Ohio derailment and imagined what would happen to him and his neighbors if such a crash happened on the tracks below his home.

"We'd be stuck," he said "What could we do? We'd be dead. They need to build an access road or a bridge."

One of Ivy's neighbors, Henry Martin, said he was keeping up with the news out of Ohio.

"Yea, one way in and one way out," he added. "Of course, it does concern me."

In Northfork, Hairston stopped at the home of his brother, Donald Hairston, whose home is near the railroad crossing motorists see as they come into town. A retired teacher who referees local basketball games, he has been following the Ohio train crash and its aftermath.

"I was watching a bit of that actually this morning when I got up," he said, looking at his living room television.

He grew up in the Northfork area and trains were always coming through, and sometimes they wrecked.

"You always had to think about it because you always had trains that wrecked," he stated.

Donald Hairston remembered a derailment that occurred in Powelton on Dec. 2, 2022. Clearing up the wreckage was time consuming.

"And I went back over there on the 13th (December). They had all been lined up along the road. They hadn't gotten them out yet," he recalled.

Another derailment in nearby Powelton closed all three of the crossings leading to Donald Hairston's house.

"I was on the other side of the tracks, but I couldn't get home," he recalled. Some residents used roads along Burke Mountain if they knew about them. Fire trucks and ambulance were not able to get through, and a major accident like the one in Ohio would be even more serious.

"It's a very critical situation," George Hairston said. Sometimes trains stop for over an hour even though they are supposed to stop for only 15 minutes.

In the Mercer and Tazewell County, Va. area, trains pass close to homes and businesses. At Margaret's Country Corner in Bluefield,Va., diners often hear trains as they pass by. Margaret Fowler, one of the restaurant's owners, said she did not worry about derailments.

"No, no, I never really thought nothing about that," she said. "I love to sit out there and watch the trains go by with big loads of coal. I know somebody's getting to work, but I feel for those people there (in Ohio)."

Outside, Ryan Addair and Cynthia Whitmer of Bluefield, Va. were waiting for a bus as a train traveled the nearby tracks.

"Trains come through here quite frequently," Addair said, adding he thought about the possibility of derailments.

"And we have friends here close to the tracks," Whitmer added.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com