CN TRAIN OVERTURNS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS; TRACK CLOSED INDEFINITELY

CN TRAIN OVERTURNS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS; TRACK CLOSED INDEFINITELY    Rail shipments along a stretch of track in southern Illinois could be displaced for several days or more until the clean up and repair following Sunday's derailment of a Canadian National freight train hauling industrial chemicals is completed.
   David Searby, operations officer for the DuQuoin Emergency Services and Disaster Agency, could not specify how long the track would be closed but said, 'it's probably gonna be awhile.'
   At least 16 cars on the train derailed about 9 a.m. Sunday, Searby confirmed. The train originated in Memphis and was bound for Champaign, Ill., Canadian National spokesman Jack Burke said when contacted at the site of the accident in Tamaroa, a town north of Carbondale, Ill.
   The train wreck forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes until emergency personnel completed tests to determine if any toxic chemicals were released into the atmosphere, soil or groundwater, according to the Associated Press.
   The train was carrying vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid and methanol when it jumped the track, Searby told American Shipper.
   Some chemical leaks caused fires that were quickly put out, Searby confirmed.