March 4 was not a good day for rail safety in central Illinois. Two people were killed in two separate crossing accidents here in central Illinois, and both of these were only 30 miles apart and both happened on the very same day. The first one occurred around 4:30pm northwest of Jacksonville, IL when a BNSF freight collided with a pickup truck.
http://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/train-25739-least-injured.html
March 04, 2010 5:16 PM
A 63-year-old rural Jacksonville man died Thursday when a train and truck collided at a crossing northwest of Jacksonville.John Ronald “Ron” Hadden of Morgan County died at the scene of the accident. Rescue workers were called to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks around Base Line Road near Standley Lane about 4:30 p.m.The driver, who was the only occupant in the vehicle, was going east on Base Line Road. Police are still investigating the circumstances behind the accident.Funeral arrangements are pending at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville.
The second crossing accident happened at or near 5:40pm in Auburn, IL on a UP crossing with Amtrak.
http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x1278483106/Authorities-investigating-apparent-fatal-train-pedestrian-accident-in-Auburn
AUBURN -- Emergency personnel are on the scene of an apparently fatal train-pedestrian accident on Illinois 104 in Auburn.
Chelsea Brettin, 19 of Auburn said she was waiting for a southbound Amtrak train to pass the crossing about 5:40 p.m. when, she said, she saw a shirt and another object fly out from under the train. When she pulled forward after the train passed, she said, she could see body parts on the track.
Brettin said she immediately called police.
"I did not want kids to have to see that," she said.
Traffic was being diverted around the tracks about 7 p.m., and a large tent had been erected on the tracks.
Officials were not immediately available to discuss what might have happened. It also was not clear if the victim was struck at the Illinois 104 intersection or if he or she might have been hit somewhere else and dragged by the train.
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