| Worker dies in East St. Louis rail accident |
|---|
| EAST ST. LOUIS – A 44-year-old metro-east man died in an accident Sunday night (Sept. 10) while working at the Alton & Southern Railroad yard, according to this report by Carolyn P. Smith published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Details of what happened were sketchy today as investigators tried to sort out what happened. Railroad officials did not release the individual’s identity or place of residence, and a coroner’s report was not immediately available. Mike McCarthy, a spokesman for Alton & Southern, said the deceased “was repositioning three locomotives in the yard” when the accident occurred The individual had worked with the company for almost a year, he said. The accident occurred about 11:30 p.m. East St. Louis police were called to the scene at 12:14 a.m., Capt. Lenzie Stewart said. Illinois State Police were also called in to the initial scene, but Stewart said the investigation has been turned over to Alton & Southern Railroad. It was not immediately known whether the National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the accident. (The preceding report by Carolyn P. Smith was published by the Belleville News-Democrat on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006.) |
Novice railway switchman is crushed between trains
(The following article by Denise Hollinshed was posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website on September 12.)
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Family members said Mardie Oden had found his dream job as a switchman with Alton & Southern Railway six months ago, but it ended tragically Sunday.
The Federal Railroad Administration along with Alton & Southern and East St. Louis Police are investigating an accident in which Oden was fatally crushed between two trains.
Railroad officials said the accident happened at 11:30 p.m. Sunday while Oden was switching locomotives from one track to another.
Oden, 44, of Belleville, was pronounced dead at 12:51 a.m. Monday in the emergency room at Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis, according to the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office.
Mike McCarthy, spokesman for Alton & Southern, said the railway was still trying to piece together exactly just what happened when the trains came together.
“They were just moving them from one track to another, it’s basically a simple move,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said Oden was very well thought of.
“He was a conscientious worker,” he said. “It will be a big loss for us. We are a small railroad, and he was a big part of it.”
Oden’s older brother, Lindsey Oden, 52, of Belleville, believes his brother’s inexperience may have sealed his fate. He said friends who worked at the railroad told him his brother had been making mistakes and should have been pulled off that job.
He wants a thorough investigation into his brother’s death.
“I want the truth,” Oden said. “In a six-month span my little brother shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing. Simple as that.”
Lindsey Oden said his brother had been thrilled to land a stable job after working temporary jobs in security.
Switchman is one of the most dangerous railroad j
oh man. that really sucks. isn’t A&S just a small subsidiary of UP? how is it none of their power wasnt just repainted into UP and their track integrated into the rest of UP’s system anyway?
A regretable reality of working on the railroad. A moments inattention leads to a lifetime of pain or loss of life. My sympathies to friends and family.
Being a switchman, (yardman) is so dangerous and accounts for such a large portion of railroad worker fatalities that the FRA, in conjunction with all the Class 1, plus the UTU and BLE created the S.O.F.A. study group.
I know, who thinks up the acronyms, but it stands for Switching Operation Fatality Analysis.
The group issues operating practice recommendations to improve switching safety.
They are the guys responsible for the Three Point Protection, or Red Zone Protection rules you find in most timetables and safety rule books.
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/102
“Crushed between two trains” sounds a lot like a euphemism for being coupled up…which is about the nastiest way to die on a railroad…it is every switchman’s biggest fear.
If the didn’t use the SOFA recommendations, or teach it to their new hires, then something like this was bound to happen.
One of the major things I impress on any rookie I train is that this stuff doesn’t give you a second chance.
The laws of physics and inertia will work whether you are in the way or not.
I tell the
Ed you know i am a engineer and together we have blasted each other and its been in fun. but in all honesty I think the worst thing i could ever do is go back in my train and find the conductor brake man or switchman hurt or dead . Ive hit people at crossing hit people standing in front of my train and killed them. and that didnt bother me any where near as bad as thinking of hurting someone that i spend 12-16 hours a day with ( yes people the guys and gals we work with we spend more time with than are own families. they are really are famillies) I inform every new hire i work with that things are safer than ever before. but it still can kill you. if it looks like it could harm you dont do it. dont ever get between moving cars dont even think about stepping between cars just coupled let the slack settle down. i rather go to lunch or go home 15 min late than stay and fill out paper work and talk to collage smart idiots. remeber if all you get is a leg cut off or a arm that is usually the exception not the norm. the norm is death.
Wabash 1 - I agree with you 100%.
Ed -
I heard from a knowledgable source today that it was not a “couple-up” type situation, but rather one where the switchman struck equipment left out to foul on a connecting track while shoving back and fell under his train.
Another type of all too common yard injury that happens often.
R.I.P. Brother, R.I.P
LC
Oh geeze,
He cornered himself…
Second thing I always stress is to never leave anything fouling, not even for a minute…you never know when someone else might decide to shove the next track over from the other end of the yard, or you forget you left it there and end up running into your own train.
That’s just basic yard work safety.
I suggest those interested look at the FRA link I provided, and look at the charts on type of accidents…it is rather shocking in that it tells that for a long time, no basic safety techniques were taught to new yardmen…
They hit themselves with their own train a lot.
Ed
LC- can you explain this in layman’s terms please. I don’t quite follow what happened. Thanks
Sure. A car (or other equipment) which is not shoved far enough down a connecting track to clear the lead (or main) track creates a dangerous close clearance that can knock a switchman off a car he is riding down the lead. Such a car is known as being “left out to foul”. The “fouling point” of a track connecting to another track is the point along the track where cars left on that side (or yard) track will allow safe movement on the main or lead track.
Also, note that sometimes cars properly shoved into a track can move out past the fouling point if there is a grade on the track or if customers or other crews move the cars as Ed mentions. Always make sure there is enough clearance for your move, if in doubt, stop the move.
Hope that answers your question.
LC
this would not suprise me with the high traffic cirrcus operation that is done over there . every trip to st.louis is a fight to get past the a&s. this is just one of a series of incedents that has been going on there all year. but no matter what . may he rip
I was really sad to hear about the switchman since I had probably talked to him or lined a signal for his train at one time or another. The little time I spent as conductor brings back a lot of memories and to this day I still am extremely wary around rail equipment. My first rule of thumb was to always look for a way out if something happened because you never know.
I for one, have never, ever thought that railroading is a “glamourous” or “easy” job. I have always known that it involved hard work, and is dirty as well as dangerous. That said, my sympathies to this man’s family. The sad thing is, that it could have been avoided, and that makes it even more tragic. It’s the same thing in the fire service… a moment’s inattention can spell the difference between life and death.
But the funny thing is, we do get new hires that think all they really have to do is ride around in the locomotive and wave to people at the crossings…
They last on average a month, before they realize we really have to work for that cab ride!
Ed
The Rail industry, by its very nature is unforgiving of operational mistakes.