FELA Lawyer News Blog

BRAINERD, MN – Twenty BNSF rail cars carrying coal derailed on Sunday, July 10, five miles east of Highway 25 overpass near Brainerd, MN. The accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. in a remote area by Loerch Road, at Mile Post 111 in Oak Law Township.

The train, with 121 loaded coal cars and three locomotives, originated in Montana and was traveling east to Superior, Wis. ... Read More

LITHIA SPRINGS, Ga – A westbound Norfolk Southern train with three locomotives and 41 rail cars of mixed freight traveling through Georgia to Birmingham, struck and killed a 35-year-old Powder Springs man lying on the tracks.

The incident occurred on Friday, July 8, at around 5:30 a.m. on the Norfolk Southern rail line near the Harper Road crossing, between U.S. Highway 78 and Ben Hill Road in Lithia Springs. ... Read More

A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, July 1, by two former Norfolk Southern railroad workers, claims that Norfolk Southern officials tried to coerce them into lying about an incident and then fired them.

... Read More

HITCHCOCK, TX – A BNSF train was traveling southbound on Friday, July 1, around 1:30 a.m on the rail line when the derailment occurred.

PHOTOS CREDIT: Click2Houton

The rail line is parallel to State Highway 6 where nine train cars derailed from railroad tracks in downtown Hitchcock delaying traffic. ... Read More

NEW CASTLE, DE -  An accident occurred on Monday afternoon, June 27, when a Norfolk Southern Railroad, originally mistaken for an Amtrak train, plowed into a tractor trailer in New Castle, Del. Monday afternoon, authorities say.

NBC Philadelphia were told by Delaware Fire dispatchers that the train was an Amtrak, but Amtrak confirmed that it was not one of their trains. Police corrected the report stating that it was Norfolk Southern. ... Read More

RENO, NV – The Amtrak conductor who was killed in last Friday’s deadly Reno train accident with an 18 wheeler truck has been identified as Amtrak employee, Laurette Lee.

Amtrak told KOLO 8 News that Lee was a conductor and a long-time employee. She began working with the company in 1988 and worked out of Amtrak’s Reno crew base. ... Read More

WASHINGTON – In the case of CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. v. MCBRIDE, 10-235, a ruling was handed down today by the U.S. Supreme Court against CSX Railroad in their bid to make it harder for railroad workers to win lawsuits that would hold the company responsible for injuries they suffered on the job.

The court, in a 5-to-4 opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, upheld a $184,000 court award to CSX railroad engineer Robert McBride, who said he injured his hand while adding and removing railroad cars. ... Read More

EL PASO, TX – An accident involving a Union Pacific train and 18 wheeler truck occurred on Monday morning on June 20, at about 8:30 a.m. in El Paso’s Lower Valley.

El Paso police told KFOX14 they believe the driver of the semi-truck tried to beat an oncoming train at the Alameda and Inglewood railroad crossing. ... Read More

CLAIBORNE COUNTY, TN -  A man from the Tiprell community of Claiborne County who was distraught over the loss of his friend, opened fire on two employees of Norfolk Southern Railroad when their train was stopped on the tracks.

Mark Anthony Bruce charged with aggravated assault for shooting at two NS railroad workers.

The incident occurred on Thursday, June 2, when Claiborne 911 received reports of a shooting in the Tiprell community, according to Sheriff David Ray. Officers of the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office along with Detective Bob Morelock arrived shortly after and immediately launched an investigation. ... Read More

PLANADA, CA – Steven Miller, a 23-year-old from Trinity County who was staying in Planada, was killed on Monday, June 6, by an Amtrak passenger train traveling 70 mph near Childs Avenue and Santa Fe Drive. He was believed to be chasing his dog, said Deputy Tom MacKenzie, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Miller’s death occurred along a stretch of railroad tracks notorious for pedestrian traffic and has some residents questioning whether safety improvements are needed to prevent future incidents.

A week before, a 41-year-old man was killed as he drove over a private railroad crossing between Arboleda and Plainsburg roads.

The two fatalities are only the most recent tragedies to occur on railroad tracks in the Planada area. The death of a 10-year-old boy who was killed while walking near the tracks in 2006 still haunts many residents. ... Read More