CRAMERTON, NC (WBTV) -
The toppled rail cars that have littered the train tracks in Cramerton for seven weeks will soon be removed, according to a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.
A railroad spokesman says the cars will now be removed by being placed on flatcars and hauled awayover the next two days.
Contractors hired to remove the cars were on site last week and expressed concern about what chemicals the rubber linings inside the cars absorbed before the chemicals were removed from the cars, according to a spokesman for the railroad.
Workers are worried about any fumes released from the rubber liners when they cut the cars up with a blowtorch.
The delay means the cars won't be removed before October at the earliest.
A train derailment August 6 left 31 cars off the tracks and caused the surrounding neighborhood to be evacuated. Workers with Norfolk Southern quickly cleared the tracks, but more than half a dozen cars are still lining the embankment.
"It does look like a little bit of a graveyard around here," said Sandy Stines, whose home overlooks the train tracks.
Resident Don Hawkins called the sight "a big pile of mess."
Every time he steps outside, he remembers a terrifying moment last August.
"It sounded like an earthquake, and the train was flying so fast," said Hawkins. "All I saw were the empty tankers jumping. They were jumping up and down on the tracks. I couldn't move, and then one was coming right towards me, and I bowed my head and closed my eyes and said, 'Oh, God, no. Please, not this way!"
The train car stayed on the embankment, and Hawkins was fine. In fact, no one was hurt that day, and he's thankful for that. He's just sick of seeing the debris seven weeks later.
"It looks terrible, I mean it's nothing but an eyesore," he said.
Most neighbors have had enough. Some have even spotted teenagers down near the toppled cars and worry about the safety hazard.
"Once they got the railroads running again, I haven't really seen anything," said Stines.
Last week, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said it won't be long before the mess is cleaned up. As far as what caused the hold-up, Norfolk Southern blamed the availability of special equipment needed to remove the remaining cars. The contractor was waiting on gondolas in order to haul the debris away.
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