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Quoted: I was puzzled by this too and talked to an officer familiar with it.
She wasn't on the tracks, but walking to one side. What killed her was some sort of track repair rigging mount on the front of the engine. It apparently sticks out about 4 feet to each side and struck her from behind, dragging her and then throwing her into the ditch. She must have felt the vibrations but thought she was safe. Train speed was about 15mph.
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That's messed up.
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Lawsuit time. Dont see how they didnt realize a 4 foot pole off the side of the train wasnt dangerous, but they will realize shortly.
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Who owns the ground 4 feet from the tracks? I'm guessing it wasn't public property and she should not have been there in the first place. Yes, it is a terrible accident, but certainly not negligence on the part of the railway company.
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Ding ding ding.
She was most likely trespassing if she was that close to a train. While sad, it was totally preventable.
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The maintenence equipment sticking out sounds like BS.
Almost all locomotives have snowplows. They stick out about a foot to either side of the pilot. Railroad equipment travels long distances, and can be working through a snowstorm in Illinois one day, and by the next day be in Texas or California.
Generally speaking, the railroad will own 20 to 50 feet to either side of the center of the track on a single track, 20 to 50 feet to the sides of the outermost tracks where there are multiple tracks. If she was close enough to get hit by ANY type of railroad equipment, and unless she was on a road or sidwalk at a crossing-at-grade, she WAS trespassing, period.
Scenarios like these are why railroads religiously post their property. Trespass=dead, many times.