BLET locomotive engineer thankful no one hurt in CSX accident
(The following story by Chloe Morrison appeared on The Daily Times website on October 29, 2009. Brother W.S. Murphy is a member of BLET Division 782 in Etowah, Tenn.)
ETOWAH, Tenn. — CSX train engineer W. Scott Murphy said he was shaken and scared after the train he was driving hit a truck that was stuck on the tracks Tuesday morning in Alcoa.
“I put the emergency break on as soon as I could think to do it,” he said Wednesday. “It was very scary.”
The train was approaching Hunt Road at about 50 miles per hour when it hit Thomas Roy Williams’ 2008 Chevrolet pickup truck.
According to an Alcoa police report, Williams swerved because he saw an oncoming vehicle in his lane. When he swerved the truck went off the paved road into a gravel bed and lost traction.
As his truck was stuck on the tracks, the crossing arms closed and Williams heard a train whistle, according to the report.
The CSX train — which consisted of three engines and 110 cars — crashed into the truck, pushing it a few feet and eventually knocking it off the tracks into a ditch, Alcoa Lt. Jim Miller said.
Williams, a 67-year-old Greenback resident, could not be reached Wednesday, but a woman at his residence said the incident was scary and that Williams didn’t want to discuss it.
Murphy said he was thankful that no one was injured in the accident, but said the incident should serve as a reminder to motorists to obey traffic signals.
“It happens all the time — the gates come down and the lights are on (but the vehicle) comes right across,” Murphy said.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
