Railroad crossing closed as crews clean up train derailment in Fayette County, officials say

TYRONE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Crews are still working to remove six massive rail cars after a CSX train derailed in Tyrone Tuesday afternoon, according to the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

The derailment happened on Senoia and Tyrone Road, which caused the rail line on Tyrone Road to close.

“It’s a scene to see these cars rolled over here,” said Fayetteville resident Miron Lay.

The derailment caused the six rail cars to derail, some rail cars to topple on their side, and one landed in a tree.

“Not my normal Tuesday,” said Jeremiah Jones. Jones works at a barber shop right in front of the tracks.

“I’m cutting my clients hair and I’m looking at the mirror and he’s shaking in the mirror. It felt like an earthquake, that’s the only way I could describe it. It shook the whole building,” he said. “I was like woah what’s going on. So we all ran outside and came to look that’s when we saw the train off the track, from here to the end of the building all over the place.″

Kate Warnke and Aleah Hearn got thrown off their track when on their way to Partners Pizza nearby.

“Then all of a sudden about 20 minutes was added to our route on our navigation,” said Aleah Hearn, who was rerouted because of the derailment.

“We went around this way, we are like OK, this is a nice route. Then we end up on gravel, we end up through horse pasture, it was quite an adventure,” said Kate Warnke, who was rerouted because of the derailment.

As of Wednesday morning, crews are currently repaving the tracks and still need to take apart four of the rail cars that are “unsalvagable.” A crewmember says there’s still plenty of work to be done for the roads and tracks to reopen.

Tyrone city officials said the Tyrone Road Crossing will be closed for an “extended period of time.”

CSX officials said one of their trains derailed shortly after 4 p.m.

An Atlanta News First viewer captured dashcam footage of the derailment.

“There were no injuries reported of the crew and there is no threat to the safety of the surrounding community,” CSX officials said in a statement.

CSX said the rail cars did not carry any hazardous materials. Having no reported injuries, Jones said is a blessing because only trees and a hill could stop a derailed train from crashing into nearby buildings or people walking by.

“I’m just grateful we are still here, and nobody got hurt. Good to still be alive,” Jones said.

The cause is still under investigation.

This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First for updates.