GEORGETOWN, Colo. — Just 24 hours after a historic railroad train car full of passengers tipped off the tracks, the Georgetown Loop Railroad was back in service Wednesday.
The railroad is investigating what caused the train to jump the tracks. Officials believe there might have been a mechanical failure.
The car that derailed has been taken out of service as normal operations continue.
“We pulled in like this and bam, right there, 50 feet,” said Tina Fleming, a parlor attendant.
At 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, the train departed the station with 235 passengers on board. Just 400 yards into the trip, the front car suddenly tipped over.
“I was looking down and I saw the lead car off the side of the track,” Fleming said. “I was trying to keep everyone calm and away from the window.”
Fleming rushed to get passengers out of the car as another employee pulled the emergency line to disconnect it from the rest.
RELATED: Passengers detail the moments the car tipped over
“We believe there was some type of a mechanical type issue,” said Tom Hill, the vice president of facilities. “That particular car is about 102 to 115 years old. They’re mostly antique cars.”
He said train cars are inspected annually by the Federal Railway Administration and the state. Hill said the train passed the last safety inspection in the summer.
“We don’t run anything that’s not top drawer. But you can have any type of mechanical issue. Something may have come loose,” Hill said.
He also said his crew does thorough safety inspections of the tracks and train cars multiple times a day.
He said the car showed no previous signs of problems. For new passengers, some were apprehensive to ride on Wednesday. But they didn’t let the incident stop them from boarding.
“It’s kind of scary, but we’re here and we’re hoping for the best,” SiSi Carnero said.
“I hope they did a good job. We are looking forward to it still, even after this,” Alex Greissel said.
Once the internal investigation into the derailment is complete, the Georgetown Loop Railroad plans to turn its findings over to the Federal Railroad Association.