EDINBURGH — Two people were killed and a third seriously injured when a train and a sport-utility vehicle collided at a northern Bartholomew County railroad crossing.
Indiana State Police are continuing to investigate the 11:47 p.m. Monday accident along County Road 900N, about a mile east of U.S. 31, next to the Hisada America Inc. facility in the Edinburgh Industrial Park area.
The Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Joshua Lee Kelso, 30, of Cloverdale and Justice Marie Llewellyn, 20, of Franklin. They were pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Charlie DeWeese.
Both died from blunt force trauma sustained in the impact of the collision, Deputy Coroner Jay Frederick said. Toxicology tests in the case are expected to take about two weeks.
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A third occupant in the SUV, Myranda Akers, 26, believed to be from the Edinburgh area, was ejected from the vehicle and found lying near it, Indiana State Police said. She was airlifted to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. She was listed in critical condition, hospital officials said at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
State police said a red 1996 Jeep Cherokee driven by Kelso was traveling east on County Road 900N when he disregarded the stop sign at the railroad crossing and drove into the path of a southbound Louisville & Indiana train, which consisted of two locomotives. The locomotives were not pulling any train cars.
The locomotives collided with the driver’s side of the vehicle, pushing the 2006 Jeep down the tracks before it left the tracks and rolled over before stopping, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman.
Llewellyn was a backseat passenger in the vehicle and Akers was a front-seat passenger, Wheeles said.
The train engineer, Jeremy R. Peacock, 35, of Scottsburg, and the train conductor, Leon A. Fuetini, 26, of Shelbyville, Kentucky, were not injured in the collision.
The two locomotives were traveling at about 49 mph when it struck the SUV, German Township Fire Chief Matt Lynch said.
Since the railroad crossing is on the boundary line of the German Township and Edinburgh Fire departments, volunteers from both departments were sent to the scene.
One of the first firefighters to arrive found two unresponsive people entrapped in the SUV, Lynch said. Firefighters found the SUV with heavy damage to its driver’s side, about 150 feet south of the roadway and 20 feet east of the railroad tracks, Lynch said.
Columbus Fire Department firefighters extricated the bodies of Kelso and Llewellyn from the vehicle, Lynch said.
Although most of the trains that use the crossing are heading north, Lynch said a few southbound trains also use the tracks each day.
While the crossing does not have gates or warning flashing lights, Lynch said it is properly marked with a railroad crossing marker and a stop sign.
Jeremy Kramer, Louisville & Indiana director of transportation, said the railroad is cooperating with authorities investigating the accident.
“Our initial investigation indicates that the train was operating within the legal speed limits, the locomotive horn was sounded in advance of the crossing and proper warning signage was in place,” Kramer said in a statement. “We extend our sympathies to the families and friends of those who were injured or died as a result of this incident.”
Motorists need to stop and look in both directions for approaching trains each time a railroad crossing is approached, Lynch said.
The Indiana State Police was assisted by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Edinburgh Police Department, German Township Fire Department, Edinburgh Fire Department, Columbus Regional Hospital EMS, LifeLine medical helicopter, Louisville & Indiana Railroad, and the county coroner’s office.
The latest train accident is one of several fatalities that have occurred on the tracks near Edinburgh.
Sharon Gobin, 74, was killed Nov. 6 of last year while crossing railroad tracks on East Main Cross Street in Edinburgh as a train was approaching.
In 2005, an Edinburgh High School senior was killed after his car collided with a train on County Road 800N, just east of U.S. 31. Jeffrey A. Morton died in the Nov. 12, 2005 crash, with contributing factors listed as speed and alcohol, according to the coroner’s office.
Edinburgh officials, along with other communities along the rail line, have been considering safety improvements in preparation for more longer, heavier and faster CSX trains that will be using the line later this fall.
Railroad officials are completing a rebuild of the 100-year-old Noblitt Park railroad bridge over the Flat Rock River in Columbus. When that work is completed this fall, the railroad plans to significantly increase the number of CSX higher-speed and heavier trains on the line. An estimated 22 trains a day are expected to travel through Columbus and Edinburgh beginning later this year, as predicted by City of Columbus consultant American StructurePoint.
Columbus is working with the state, the county and Cummins, Inc. to build an overpass over the railroad tracks at the State Road 46 and State Road 11 intersection, a project that is in the planning stages and will not be in place when the increased railroad traffic begins.
Columbus officials are also considering establishing quiet zones along the rail line through the downtown area, and would be required to install extensive safety equipment as a part of that process, including gates, lights and traffic guides to keep motorists from going around gates that are down. In return, the locomotives would not have to sound their horns at the downtown Columbus intersections.
Edinburgh Town Manager Wade Watson said last fall that installing more warning signals, including the safety gates that block traffic from crossing when a train is approaching, isn’t an option for Edinburgh because of the costs, which he estimated at $1.5 million.
Instead, the town has been focusing on education efforts, and looking at grants that could help pay for upgrades long-term, Watson said at the time.
Railroad safety will be a part of a training session this weekend at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Bartholomew County and Columbus officials will be a part of training on The Safety Train from the Firefighters Education and Training Foundation. The Safety Train’s Smoke House is a railroad boxcar modified by CSX, featuring a 400-foot-long, three-level maze with obstacles that firefighters traverse in zero visibility, with or without smoke.
Columbus firefighters along with area fire departments trained with the CXS Safety Train and the Louisville & Indiana Railroad at Columbus’ grade-level crossings near the fairgrounds in September.
