Chairman at Controls When Train Derailed on Company Excursion

The chairman of Norfolk Southern Corp. said Monday that he was at the throttle of a vintage steam locomotive pulling a trainload of employees and their families on an excursion when 14 cars derailed, injuring 185 people.

“Something either went wrong with the car or something went wrong with the track under the train,” Chairman Robert B. Claytor, 64, said of the Sunday afternoon accident in the remote Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge.

“It wasn’t anything in the operation of the engine,” he said. “The steam engine’s in perfect shape.”

Doesn’t Feel Responsible

Claytor said he did not believe he caused the accident, saying a qualified employee stood at his side throughout the trip. He was not injured.

Nineteen people remained hospitalized Monday, one in critical condition and seven others listed as serious. Scores of others were treated for broken bones, cuts and bruises.

Claytor was running the train about 60 m.p.h. over some of the line’s best track when the derailment occurred, company spokesman Robert C. Fort said. Trains on that section of track can reach 100 m.p.h., Claytor said.

Qualified Engineer

The chairman is a qualified engineer, said Magda A. Ratajski, company vice president for public relations.

Bill Bush, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigator was on the scene and another was en route. The NTSB will not issue its findings for about six months, Bush said.

The 24-car train, pulled by a steam locomotive known as “Old 611,” was carrying about 1,000 Norfolk Southern employees, their families and friends on an annual outing.