Jumping to Conclusions 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
STATE BRIEFS
Buena Park
A conductor was killed Sunday when he jumped from a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train he apparently thought was about to collide with another train, police said.
The other train was stopped on the adjacent track, but the conductor and engineer "observed another train ahead of them, which appeared to be on the same track and approaching" according to a Police Department statement.
The engineer aided the 34 year old conductor, who died at the scene. Their names were not released, possibly to protect the ignorant mistake that was made by the obvious novice conductor
Police said the engineer placed the train in a heavy braking maneuver when he noticed the other train. The conductor then placed the freight in full emergency braking and told the engineer he was going to jump.
The engineer watched him jump from the train traveling at about 40 mph, police said. After the freight train halted, the engineer realized the other train was stopped on adjacent tracks, police said. Submitted on 06/11/2003
Submitted by:
Donna Shore
Reference:
Santa Rosa Press Democrat -6/9
(formerly pending20030609-202527.html)
Conductor, Fearing Crash, Jumps Off Train to His Death
By Dave McKibben, Times Staff Writer
A conductor died early Sunday morning in Buena Park after jumping from a
freight train he apparently thought was about to collide with an oncoming
train, police and train officials said. The train he was aboard was going
about 40 mph; the other train turned out to be on an adjacent track and was
at a complete stop, said Lena Kent, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe
spokeswoman.
Kent said she had never heard of a similar incident involving a Burlington
Northern conductor. "There have been conductor fatalities, but not where
they thought they saw another train coming and there wasn't one," Kent
said. She said there appeared to be nothing unusual about the situation
the train's two-man crew encountered. "The other freight train was stopped
on the other side of the tracks," she said. "That's an area where there's
eastbound and westbound traffic flowing at all times."
Kevin Osher, 33, of Canoga Park, who had worked at least five years as a
conductor with Burlington Northern, died from injuries suffered in the jump
west of Dale Street. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police said the engineer told them that he and the conductor both thought
the other train was heading toward them. The engineer, whose name was not
released by Burlington Northern or the police, began braking. The conductor
placed the train into "full emergency braking," police said. The engineer
said Osher told him he was going to jump. Then he ran toward the rear
ladder and leaped, police said. The incident occurred at 1:45 a.m.
"It sounds like they both saw the same thing, but the conductor got more
paranoid and scared as to their safety concerns," said Buena Park Police
Lt. Corey Sianez. "He thought it was worse than it really was."
The train originated in Kansas City, Kan., and was bound for Los
Angeles. Osher and the engineer boarded in Barstow at 7 p.m. Saturday and
were within an hour of reaching their destination when the accident
occurred, Kent said. It has not been determined if drugs or alcohol were
involved.
Submitted on 06/09/2003
Submitted by:
Gary Gower
Reference:
LA Times June 9th 2003
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
Additional Information from Anonymous: Reference: Company email
June 2003: "I work for one of the major U.S. railroads. Recently we
recieved an email of a conductor being fatally injured. He saw a train up
ahead apparantly on the same track. Despite the other crew members telling
him not to jump, he did and suffered fatal head injuries. It turns out that
the train was not on the same track but the adjacent track. Had he listened
and not jumped he wouldn't be up for a Darwin Award."
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