MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio — The Medina County Sheriff's Office says there was a "minor" train derailment that occurred Tuesday night along state Route 301 in Spencer.
The derailment happened at approximately 11:05 p.m. The Medina County Sheriff's Office reported that there were no injuries and the train was not hauling anything hazardous.
We've learned the derailment involved several empty coal cars with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company. The train was removed just 13 hours after it derailed.
As a result of the derailment, Route 301 was closed between Route 162 and Spencer Mills Road for several hours. That roadway has since reopened and trains are moving again as of Wednesday afternoon.
Rail expert John Hiatt, who has been in and around the industry for more than four decades, has seen an increase in such "minor" derailments as the one that happened in Medina County.
"These littler ones, we used to not hear about because it wasn't a big deal. Since East Palestine, even the little ones make the news," Hiatt told 3News.
PHOTOS | Train derailment in Medina County
For Michalla Risch and her seven family members, who live just yards from the derailment site in Spencer, this is something they've never experienced.
"My niece was actually up and she came outside and was scared to death," Risch told 3News.
3News has reached out to Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company to see what caused the derailment. We have yet to get a response.
Just last week, a Norfolk Southern train derailment occurred in New Castle, Pennsylvania, near the Ohio state line in an unrelated incident. It was approximately 20 miles from East Palestine where a toxic train derailment happened more than three months ago on Feb. 3.
Nobody was hurt in the New Castle derailment and no toxic chemicals were spilled.
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in a previous train derailment story on May 11, 2023.