As the train engine approached pulling 71 railcars filled with rocks, Janet Sanders Orchard panicked.

Her Mercury Grand Marquis had just rear-ended a Honda Civic on top of a railroad crossing in Gilbert on Wednesday, and Orchard was exchanging information with the other driver.

When Orchard, 54, realized a train was approaching and the gates at the crossing were closing, she climbed inside the Mercury but failed to start it, witnesses told police. Then she exited the vehicle and began to move away. advertisement

But for some unknown reason, police say, she went back.

The crew of the Union Pacific train barreling toward her applied the brakes but there was too little time to stop, police said.

Moments later, the train crashed into the car, which then struck Orchard, propelling her 75 feet from the tracks on Guadalupe Road just west of Cooper Road around 6 p.m., said Lt. Joe Ruet, a Gilbert police spokesman. Paramedics took her to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn, where she was pronounced dead.

The young man who drove the Honda successfully moved his car and walked away unharmed from a nightmare that underscored the deadly power trains can exert.

While hundreds of people are killed nationwide each year by trains, deaths caused by trains at railroad crossings are not common.

From January to August of this year, there were 25 crashes involving vehicles and trains at railroad crossings in Arizona, including 19 in Maricopa County, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. One person died, and four others were injured.

In 2004, there were two deaths from train crashes at railroad crossings in Arizona. In 2003, there were seven fatalities, including four people who died at a crossing on private property in Mohave County.

Deaths are more common away from railroad crossings when people trespass onto train tracks or simply get too close, said David Agee, the acting coordinator of Arizona Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit organization that seeks to reduce fatalities and injuries along railroads.

Through August of this year, there were 16 deaths in Arizona involving people who trespassed on or near railroad tracks, according to FRA data cited by Agee. There were 17 such fatalities in 2004 and 10 in 2003, Agee said. Those statistics do not include suicides, which regularly occur.

Agee said there is concern the Valley's light-rail system under construction could lead to more accidents on train tracks.

"Certainly Houston, when they started their light rail, they had a significant number of vehicle-train incidences," said Agee, who is also regional field safety support manager for BNSF Railroad, one of Arizona's two major freight train railroads.

Operation Lifesaver seeks to recruit volunteers to educate the public about railroad safety, including in Spanish-speaking and Native American communities, Agee said. The goal is to prevent deadly accidents like the one that killed Orchard, an Orlando, Fla., resident who was in the Valley to visit her mother in Tempe.

Ruet said the train that hit the Mercury put on its brakes about a quarter mile away.

Following an accident on railroad tracks, "it's best just to stay back and wait for assistance from law enforcement or a tow truck company," said Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesman. "The key part is notifying . . . the railroad so we're aware that something has happened by the track."

Submitted on 11/04/2005

Submitted by: Chris Grochowski
Reference: AZ Republic 11-4-05

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I know grade crossing accidents are too common, but I rather like the following facts: a) it's a train fuill of rocks (for added effect); b) the victim rear ended someone else (she was probably not paying attention); c) she exchanges her information RIGHT THERE on the tracks; d) she gets in her car but couldn't start it (just like in the movies); e) she begins moving away, only to suddenly decide to go back at the moment of impact. This is good (read: stupid) enough for me to keep!

Tracy said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I agree with James - it's the exchanging details whilst still on the tracks that does it for me!

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Perhaps she went back for her cell phone?

Greg said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
If she did that would take the biscuit, Jack! Yes. I'm up for this going through. :-)

The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom Keep yourself out of the gene pool! A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item! Friends don't let friends reproduce! $13 for Pack of 4