WASHINGTON — Inadequate repairs at the site where track had buckled 10 days earlier led to another buckling incident that caused the derailment of a Canadian National train on the Grenada Railroad in Sardis, Miss., the National Transportation Safety Board said in its investigation report on a July 6, 2025, incident.
The CN train of three locomotives and 114 cars, en route from Memphis, Tenn., to Mobile, Ala., derailed as it crossed a bridge [see “Detouring CN train derailment …,” Trains.com, Aug. 11, 2025]. It was detouring because of a CN derailment the previous day in Glendora, Miss. [see “NTSB issues preliminary report …,” Aug. 5, 2025]. Twenty-one cars derailed in the Sardis incident, with one spilling approximately 10,500 gallons of sodium hydroxide, a highly corrosive material. There were no injuries; damage was estimated at $2 million.
The Grenada Railroad had repaired the bridge in May 2025. On June 25, a Grenada crew reported rough track on the bridge, including a heat kink. A 10-mph slow order was put in place, but was lifted after July 1 repairs in which a track foreman used a backhoe to straighten the track and tamp the ballast. The track was not destressed — involving cutting and removing the rail — although that is recommended by the Federal Railroad Administration. Track inspections on July 3 and on July 6, the morning of the derailment, did not report any issues. A little over four hours later, the derailment occurred; video from the lead locomotive’s forward-facing camera shows the track was misaligned…