CSX: Bearing failed 9 miles before Tennessee derailment

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - CSX Transportation Inc. says the mechanical failure that caused a July 2015 train derailment in Tennessee actually began about nine miles earlier.

The Daily Times reports (http://bit.ly/2aorOgB) CSX explained the cause of the derailment of a tank car carrying 24,000 gallons of a toxic chemical called acrylonitrile in responses filed in court Thursday to two lawsuits.

CSX says a roller bearing initially failed near a crossing in Louisville. Equipment designed to detect the problem failed to do so for about nine miles. In the meantime, a broken axle punctured the tank car and started a fire that burned over 16 hours, sending dozens to the hospital and forcing 5,000 residents of the town of Maryville to evacuate.

CSX and co-defendant Union Tank Car Co. called the lawsuits frivolous.