The 1978 Friedens train derailment

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — Coal trains are a part of our landscape, and with that, unfortunately so are derailments.

It was late November 1978 when a train hauling about 50 cars loaded with coal derailed in Friedens, in Somerset County.

Our news crews were there after it happened, then returned the next morning at daylight to see the damage.

The force of the crash tore the rails from the wooden sleepers and left them mangled and twisted.

Several cars traveled so far off the tracks they punctured holes in the abandoned IXL Creamery building.

Even an unoccupied car parked by the rail line was damaged by one of the cars.

Local newspaper reports at the time say there were no injuries.

The conductor in the caboose told the local newspaper that he felt a vibration just before the derailment.

Crews were working on cleaning up just hours after the crash.

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