Official: Train Was Going 73 MPH

According to the union representing the engineer who was operating the train that crashed near the Cameron/ McKean County line, the train was traveling 73 miles per hour when it crashed into a hillside, spilling thousands of gallons of a toxic chemical into a nearby stream.

The chemical, sodium hydroxide in liquid form, spilled directly into tiny Big Fill Run and rushed through a boggy meadow and into the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek. It killed every living organism in the creek for several miles and killed tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of fish in all.

Both Norfolk Southern aboard the train have been charged by their employer for "improper train handling" and "excessive speeding."

Train was about half way down a major decent, often referred to as the Keating Summit Grade. According to earlier reports, the engineer was taken by surprise by the slope, despite having traveled the route before.

The speed limit on the grade is 15 miles per hour.

Cole Davis, a committee chairman with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, gave the report on the speed of the train earlier this week.

Disciplinary measures against the two employees, who haven't been named publicly, are pending.

The Federal Railroad Administration, which is investigating the derailment, has said the train was traveling in excess of the speed limit, but its final reports won't be released for several months, according to agency spokesman Steven Kulm.