But the process of selling her home since then has been “a nightmare,” she told CNN. “If the train wouldn’t have derailed, we would have sold within a couple of days,” Henry said. “But since the train derailed, nobody really wants to come to this town.” Needing to move on with her life, she listed her four bedroom, 1,100-square foot home three weeks after the accident for $150,000. The first offer she received was $50,000 below the asking price.
The value of all residential real estate in the town adds up to about $380 million, including single-family homes and multi-family properties. Those values are only a fraction of the money that Norfolk Southern earns. Last year it reported a record operating income of $4.8 billion, and a net income of $3.3 billion, up about 9% from a year earlier. It had $456 million in cash on hand on its books as of December 31, according to its latest earnings report.