CRESCENT CITY, Fla. -- Railroad crews on Monday hurried to put the final touches on a quarter-mile stretch of temporary track that an Amtrak Auto Train will pass over today, the first daily trip since Thursday's derailment that killed four and injured 150 others, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

As inspectors and workers methodically checked the freshly laid track in Putnam County, just north of the Volusia County line, Amtrak officials scrambled to locate enough rail cars to start the service again.

Meanwhile trains were crawling through the area at 10 miles an hour, though workers hoped to do enough to increase speeds to 25 miles per hour by late Monday, said Susan Keegan, a spokesman for CSX, which owns the tracks. It may be several weeks, she said, before permanent tracks are installed at the site, which gets an average of 28 trains a day.

Crews spent most of Monday replacing ballast -- dirt and gravel along the tracks -- that was gouged out when the 14 passenger cars hurtled from the railway about 5 p.m. Thursday. Engine crews reported putting on emergency brakes after seeing a misaligned track ahead.

In a statement released Monday, National Transportation Safety Board officials said the track was visually inspected about 2:45 p.m. on Thursday. Investigators previously said rail workers last examined it at 9 a.m. that day.

The board also reported that on April 9, the Federal Railroad Administration inspected the track and found four defects but noted nothing significant. Some railroad ties about 300 feet south of the crash site also were replaced that day.

Also on Monday, CSX officials said that just two days before the accident the company was notified that Federal Railroad Administration officials were satisfied with improvements in the railroad's safety record. CSX officials met with federal inspectors to discuss ending an agreement that had been in effect since the agency cited CSX for potentially unsafe track conditions in 2000, Keegan said.

While repairs will be continuous for the next several weeks, Auto Train service between Sanford and Lorton, Va., will continue, returning to its normal schedule today at 4 p.m.

Train 'from all over'

Amtrak scrambled to pull together the necessary passenger cars and sleepers "from all over the country" to assemble a complete train, Auto Train general manager Sharon Mahoney said.

That train was scheduled to leave the Lorton station about 4 p.m. Monday to arrive in Sanford this morning.

Despite national headlines detailing the crash, Mahoney said, business has not been affected.

"We're still running full loads," Mahoney said.

"People are calling just to confirm that the train is going to go. Some people who were in the derailment are waiting to go."

At the Sanford terminal Monday, pillows, bedding, books and luggage from the wrecked train were piled in seats, along with white claim sheets passengers had filled out to mark their belongings. Anything not claimed in person will be shipped to the owners, Mahoney said, while unclaimed items will be stored indefinitely.

Several dented, windowless passenger cars could be seen from the terminal's windows.

Some remain hospitalized

Twenty-four passengers from the train wreck remained in Orlando on Monday as they finalized plans to head home. Another 27 passengers remained hospitalized, six of them in intensive care and another in a coma, according to the NTSB.

Among the injured is train cook Harry Gissendanner, who said Monday from his room at Orlando Regional Medical Center that he was preparing to serve dinner when he heard the brakes squeal.

As the train lurched forward and the dining car leaped off the tracks, he said, food and boiling water flew from the steam tables, covering him in rice, vegetables and hot water.

Though he cannot recall, witnesses said Gissendanner helped some people from the train before seeking medical attention.

"I had it all over my face, chest and even my back," he recalled. "I started taking off my clothes, and that's when I realized how badly I was burned.

Doctors have told Gissendanner, who suffered second-degree burns, that he will need several skin grafts and remain hospitalized for at least two more weeks.