Cleanup completed following train derailment along Route 301 in Spencer (VIDEO, UPDATED)

SPENCER — Workers have cleared the scene of a train derailment that occurred Tuesday night in Spencer, opening state Route 301 back up to the public after a 12-hour road closure. Village police Chief Michael Wright said a train operated by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway derailed at Route 301 around 11 p.m. Tuesday, and crews responded to the scene to clear the derailment. Spencer Mayor Dan DeRossett said the train was carrying stones and grains. Crews worked to clear several train cars from the tracks that were obstructing roadway access for vehicles. It was cleared as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Residents living on the north side of the tracks on Route 301 watched as the derailment occurred Tuesday. Michalla Risch, a Spencer resident, said that she was sitting on the front porch with her sister when the train derailment started. She said that at first, she didn't notice what was happening until her sister made a comment about the weird noise coming from the incoming train. "It sounded like something dragging," Risch said. "It was really loud." Risch began walking up the front lawn and noticed that the train looked like it was going off the train tracks. By the time she told her sister to look, the train had come off the track and hit one of the rail crossing signals' lights. Just inside the house, Kay Risch was putting 8-year-old Tilleah Fannin to bed when the derailment happened. Living next to the train tracks, Kay said that it often sounds like a thunderstorm is going through the area, so she didn't think much of it at first. Then, Michalla came running up the stairs, telling them to come to look outside at what had happened. Tilleah said that she was the first one out of the door and was shocked to see the train off its tracks. With the train derailed, traffic began to pile up. The group then began directing traffic away from the derailment until about midnight. "It started slowing down some then," Kay Risch said. "By then, there were more train people out here with their flashlights (as well)." DeRossett said Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway is investigating what caused the derailment. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.