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by ONATHAN LEMIRE and PETE DONOHUE
Subway riders were smacked twice yesterday - with a derailment and a tunnel fire that forced evacuations and disrupted service throughout the day.
A Queens-bound F train derailed about 4 a.m. just south of the Herald Square station after a section of track that apparently had not been secured properly became unhinged, Transit Authority spokesman Charles Seaton said.
No one was seriously injured, but the train's crew led nearly 60 passengers hundreds of feet through a dark tunnel to the Herald Square station. Some panicked after smoke, caused when metal hit the electrified third rail, wafted through the tunnel, union officials said.
"We had a conductor and train operator that behaved like heroes," Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint said. "They safely evacuated the passengers and prevented what could have possibly been major disaster, accident and injury from occurring."
F trains were diverted onto the Eighth Ave. line and ran with delays.
Then shortly before 1 p.m., a test train with no passengers heading toward the area where the derailment occurred suddenly lost power. Moments later, there was a series of small explosions behind the test train, said Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter, who raced to the scene after the incident.
About 300 feet of electrified third rail - inches from the track and with 600 volts of electricity surging through it - had fallen onto the tracks behind the test train, causing the explosions and filling the tunnel with sparks and smoke, Reuter said. He said officials still don't know what caused the rail to fall. "This was very unusual," he said. "We're going to have to do some real digging to see what occurred."
The second incident in the Chelsea tunnel sent smoke drifting into four stations and up to the street through stairwells and grates.
"The smoke filled the station and everyone started yelling to go to the exit," said James Fry, 28, of Brooklyn, who fled the 23rd St. station. "People kept their cool, but the smoke was overwhelming."
More than 100 firefighters battled the underground blaze in the area of 18th St. and Sixth Ave. while others cleared stations along the line.
"Thank God that the firefighters were here to help get people aboveground," said Gloria Guttierez, 56, outside the W. Fourth St. station. "The subway feels so vulnerable and claustrophobic."
No one was seriously injured by the fire or smoke, the Fire Department said.
The TA shut down the Sixth Ave. tracks for about three hours, although service was close to normal by the evening rush.
Queens-bound F trains were still bypassing the 14th and 23rd St. stations last night, and officials said the rerouting could continue through today's morning rush hour.
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