Risky business: Trespassers court danger on railroad tracks

Railroad

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, Indiana ranked 14th nationally in 2021 in pedestrian deaths and injuries caused by trespassing on railroad tracks and property.

Already this year, the region has seen two such incidents, both resulting in death.

In the first incident, a Fort Wayne man, Bradley Wayne Boggs, 64, died March 12 at 11:15 a.m. near railroad tracks south of Spencerville. According to police, Boggs was struck by a train as he was walking about 1 1/2 miles from where his car had broken down.

Tragically, Boggs had declined a ride from an Allen County sheriff’s officer just 30 minutes before he was struck.

More recently, Logan Schambers, 18, of Avilla, was killed April 15 in a 3:30 a.m. accident just west of

Denver, Colorado, BNSF worker killed in rail yard accident

Railroad

A BNSF worker was killed in a rail yard accident in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, February 9. The worker, whose name has not been released, died after being struck by a train at the company’s Globeville yard, which is north of Coors Field. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the accident.

This tragedy took place one day after US District Judge Mark T. Pittman extended a restraining order that forbids BNSF workers to strike over the company’s new Hi-Viz attendance policy. The policy, which the company imposed unilaterally on February 1, allots each worker 30 points and deducts points for every time that a worker takes off from work, regardless of the reason. To earn points back, workers must be on call 24

CSX must pay more than $667,000 to two workers in whistleblower incident

Railroad

CSX Transportation has been ordered to reinstate two workers at a yard in Waycross, Ga., and pay them more than $667,000 after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found they had been fired in retaliation for whistleblowing actions.

The two workers reported encountering a blue flag that signaled their train could not move safely, and were pulled from their job and fired, according to an OSHA press release. In addition to the payment of $667,740 — for compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, and costs incurred by the workers — CSX must pay the workers’ attorney fees, restore their seniority and benefits they would have earned, and credit toward retirement, vacation days, and personal leave days the employees would have earned.