[?]

Ann Arbor News 1963

Fourteen cars and two locomotives of a 31-car Ann Arbor Railroad freight train were derailed on a stretch of track about a half-mile south of Michigan Avenue in Pittsfield townships early Sunday.

The derailment occurred about 3:30 a. m. And was located about five miles south of the Ann Arbor city limits, a little east of State Road. There were no injures.

The derailed cars and locomotives were of the front of the train. There was a third locomotive but it was not derailed. The train headed from Frankfort, Mich, to Toledo, Ohio, was carrying mostly paper products and lumber. However, some cars were full of aluminum ingots, potash and newsprint.

Several cars were flipped over into a nearby gully. Some of the cars were twisted completely off their wheels. A railroad official estimated from 800 to 900 feet of track were torn up.

Although the cause of the derailment is not known, it is believed it was caused by a broken rail. The train was rounding a curve of the line. Speed of the train is unknown.

A nearly railroad telephone line was also torn down. Broken track and some of the freight had load were strewn about the snow and gravel.

Track repairs were underway Sunday afternoon. A special train wrecking crew was was expected to arrive Sunday night from Indiana. It was predicted it would take from one to two days to remove the derailed cars and repair the tracks.

Railroad officials and other scheduled trains will either have to be delayed or re-routed until the wreckage is cleared up.