LIVERMORE FALLS – Three engines toting a milelong train through the downtown Wednesday night slipped off the tracks at one of the busiest intersections in town.

Nobody was hurt when the train derailed on Depot Street at about 8:30 p.m. Witnesses said it appeared the tracks split apart when the first engine crossed the intersection.

Shawn Kelley, 18, was taking pictures of the passing train when he heard popping noises from beneath the wheels.

“They slowed going through and then all of a sudden, I heard a bunch of snapping noises,” Kelley said. “The rails were snapping and a couple pieces went flying and almost hit my car.”

Kelley said parts of the rail broke away as the train slowed to a stop. A second engine followed into the intersection, and he heard more snapping noises.

The rails and part of Depot Street appeared extensively damaged. Fire crews, police and Pan Am Railways officials were at the scene moments later.

An hour after the train slipped off the tracks, the intersection on Depot Street and others with crossings in different parts of the town remained blocked.

Railway officials were still assessing the damage and making arrangements to have the trained removed from the tracks. They estimated they would have it done shortly after midnight.

The Pan Am – formerly Guilford – train was hauling approximately a mile’s worth of cars and tankers, some of them marked titanium dioxide being hauled for Dupont. It was not immediately clear if the tankers were full.

There did not appear to be any chemicals leaking at the accident scene.

Neighbors gathered around the intersection watching as crews examined the damage.

“This is the main street,” said Donna Heutz, who lives nearby. “It’s very busy.”

Heutz was inside her home when the train slipped off the tracks.

“I heard a big, loud bang. I often hear them out here so at first I ignored it,” she said. “Then I came out, and it was all lit up with firetrucks. I thought it had hit something. It shook my whole apartment.”

Kelley, who witnessed the derailment, said an engineer who stepped out of the engine moments later did not appear to be hurt.