Passenger Trains > Davis station Capital Train?

Doesn't look good, train sitting at the depot with law enforcement and officials milling around...

sphogger

Possible accident. Few hours ago, I overheard DS 58 (or the more proper 258) being interrupted by an emergency call.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/breaking-news/

Man killed by passenger train in Davis

Authorities are investigating the death of a homeless man who was struck by an Amtrak passenger train this morning in downtown Davis.

Davis police identified the victim as a 54-year-old man, though his name was not released pending positive identification by the Yolo County coroner’s office.

The Davis Fire Department reported that the man was struck by a westbound passenger train shortly after 9:30 a.m. at the Davis Amtrak station. Ambulance personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

Davis police also responded to the scene, though Lt. Paul Doroshov said the Amtrak Police Department would be the lead investigating agency.

An employee at the Second Street train station declined to comment on train delays resulting from the fatality. Calls were referred to an Amtrak media relations manager in Chicago, who was not immediately available for comment.

Another dead trespasser, another Darwin award.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/11 12:34 by coach.

The last time I went through Davis, there appeared to be a fairly large gap in the fence across the tracks from the station platform. Was that a contributing factor here...?

djansson Wrote:
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> The last time I went through Davis, there appeared
> to be a fairly large gap in the fence across the
> tracks from the station platform. Was that a
> contributing factor here...?


UP closed off that crossing with a sturdy metal fence, much to the dismay of neighbors who live in the trailer park immediately south of the depot and even some City Council members, but that doesn't stop people from trespassing.

More details will emerge, as people shortcutting across the tracks has been a hot-button issue in Davis for the last few months.

I lived in Davis '03 - '08, and it had the highest rate of trespassing I'd ever seen on a mainline, about 1 person per minute, it seemed. This is because the city let a bunch of apartment buildings get built on the south side of the tracks with no decent access to downtown. It's only 3 - 5 blocks walking, or 12 blocks walking to the underpass, or about 10 minutes driving (a couple long lights, traffic backed up, limited parking). And, the crossing is gnarly -- 2 main tracks, zero visibility uptrack, people crossing in heels, carrying groceries, and not really paying much heed to the trains. I was always amazed that nobody ever got hit.

In the fall of UP wanted to build a continuous wall along the south side of the tracks for about 2 miles on the south side of downtown. The city put up a fuss. The UP just blocked off one or two of the obvious access points.

What was noted, though, was that of the 13 or so rail-pedestrian fatalities over the last 20 years, none (or possibly only one) of them were trespassers crossing the tracks in the "fence" zone. The rest were suicides, grade crossing crashes, or trespassers outside the fence zone.

So we'll find out quickly, I'm sure, exactly where the homeless man was coming from and what he was doing.
Usually the homeless are pretty train-saavy, but he could have been drunk, careless, suicidal, or some combination.

Sad story, condolences to his survivors, and the train crew that hit him...

Ted in OR

Ah yes the Davis rail fence gap. Back in the 1980s when I was a relief agent at Davis, there was constant war between the great unwashed of the trailer court, looking for a short cut to town, and the SP Police. Up went a fence and down it came, up and down, up and down. Finally, SP got serious and built a 9 foot or so wall using ties stacked in the webs of old rails--"that will show 'em"! Then one night, whilst waiting for the Starlate, I heard the whirl of a chain saw. The next morning a large gap in "Biaggini's Wall" appeared...and stayed that way for years to come. The SP came and went but the gap remained...good luck Uncle Pete!

I went to school @ UCD, and when SP ran, they often rolled through with lots of horns blaring. UP doesn't seem to do that as much--citizen complaints, maybe?

Or, put in a simple flashing crossing signal to at least give warning...

How hard would it be to build a pedestrian tunnel or overpass? As for the "nay sayers", look at what they built in San Luis Obispo.

Actually, it depends on the engineer. Some just pass through the station ringing the bell, while others come through blasting the horn at full volume. I just graduated from UC Davis, and from the previous comments on this thread, it looks like the trespasser situation hasn't changed a bit. There are often cops out there at the station to deter potential trespassers, but I've never seen anyone get a citation.

As for a pedestrian bridge, I don't see these people using it. Who knows, I might be proven wrong, but if it takes a minute to climb the ramp, 20 seconds to cross, plus another minute to go down the other ramp, I think these people will just continue there habit of illegally crossing the tracks at a snail's pace with their shopping carts.

When I worked at DAV the issue was not can an overpass be built but who would pay for it? Neither SP(now UP), CalTrans nor the Peoples Republic of Davis :) would step up to the plate--I thinks it's about moolah--it's always about moolah.

Sounds like the man was running alongside the train before he was hit, but it doesn't sound like a conventional suicide, either.

The city has been pushing for a gated pedestrian crossing at Hickory Lane (pull it up on a google map), I'd be surprised if they are successful. It's a busy railroad, on a blind curve, and there's a couple daily switching movements that would plug up the crossing for 15 mins or more.

A bridge would be easy, except for the Real Estate needed for the 5% grade on the approach ramps.

A tunnel would take less Real Estate, and would be a shorter, easier walk compared to a bridge (drop 10' in elevation instead of climb 20), but would take much more engineering and cooperation from the UP.

Ted in OR

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More details from The Enterprise
http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/amtrak-train-hit-kills-homeless-man/

Local artist Isabel Shaskan was painting a picture of the field behind her Olive Drive apartment Thursday morning when she noticed something unusual.

“I saw this man running along the train tracks, parallel with a train,” Shaskan said. “It was strange — he was keeping his head down, and it looked like he was carrying a suitcase.”

Some trees and bushes obscured Shaskan’s view of the man.

“I kept waiting for him to appear down near Hickory Lane, and he didn’t,” she said. Moments later, she saw police cars responding to the area.

Authorities believe it was the same man who was struck and killed by a westbound Amtrak passenger train shortly after 9:30 a.m. near the downtown train station.

Yolo County coroner’s officials identified the victim as 54-year-old Danny Gene Ferguson, a member of Davis’ homeless community who would have turned 55 today. An autopsy was scheduled for this morning, Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash said.

Ferguson’s manner of death has not yet been determined, but LaBrash said there were no indications of foul play.

The Amtrak Police Department is leading the investigation of the incident, Davis police Lt. Paul Doroshov said.
No one on board the Capitol Corridor passenger train was injured, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. He added that the affected train, No. 533, was “terminated at the scene,” and passengers were transferred to another westbound train while the death investigation continued.

“We’re of course seeing delays throughout the area while the police and coroner are on scene, but we hope we are operating normally later today,” Magliari said Thursday.

Earlier this year, Union Pacific erected a metal fence along a portion of Olive Drive to discourage people from crossing the tracks to get to the downtown area.

It was not immediately clear where the man had walked onto the railroad tracks area, though Shaskan said she “got a sense from his running that he had been on the tracks for a while.”

Mayor Joe Krovoza said the city will redouble its efforts in the wake of the tragedy to secure a safe, affordable, at-grade crossing of the tracks.

The City Council has approved an official filing with the California Public Utilities Commission for an at-grade crossing, he said, and after a 30-day waiting period is met, the formal application will be filed with the commission in mid-July.

“Over the past 20 years, 14 track fatalities have occurred in the Davis area,” Krovoza said. “Only two — until today — have occurred in the stretch of tracks near the depot. Of these two, one was a suicide and one involved intoxication. The circumstances and location are always unique and so prevention is a challenge.

“The city’s at-grade crossing plan is the best plan for safety and mobility within current funding constraints,” he continued. “A fence on the south side of the tracks at the depot, absent a well-planned at-grade crossing, will only push trespassing to other areas or encourage vandalism of a fence. A clear and safe crossing will direct everyone to a single area where there will be safety overall, and safety in numbers.”

Krovoza said he believes Union Pacific should refrain from proceeding with its fence plan unless it “fully cooperates with the city and coordinates with us on the design and CPUC approval of the at-grade crossing.”

Shaskan, who has lived on Olive Drive for some 40 years, described herself as “shaken” by the fatality, which she said brought back memories of past pedestrian fatalities along the railroad line.

“It’s always tragic when someone dies,” she said.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/11 11:23 by gobbl3gook.

Ruled "accidental"

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http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/crime-fire-courts/train-death-ruled-accidental/

Train death ruled accidental

Thursday’s death of a homeless man who was struck by an Amtrak passenger train has been ruled an accident, Yolo County coroner’s officials said Friday.

“There’s no indication of suicidal ideations,” Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash said of the victim, 54-year-old Danny Gene Ferguson.

Ferguson, who would have turned 55 on Friday, died of multiple blunt-impact trauma injuries, LaBrash said.

A witness reported seeing Ferguson running alongside the westbound Capitol Corridor train shortly before he was hit at about 9:30 a.m. near the downtown Amtrak station. No other injuries were reported.

Mayor Joe Krovoza said following the incident that the city will redouble its efforts to secure a safe, affordable, at-grade crossing of the tracks.

The City Council has approved an official filing with the California Public Utilities Commission for an at-grade crossing, he said, and after a 30-day waiting period is met, the formal application will be filed with the commission in mid-July.