Conductor killed aboard locomotive.

quote:

when he leaned over the side of a moving locomotive to check the fuel level in the unit he was aboard.

What a horrible thing...

Yes it was.

And it is even sadder to say that it wasn't a very intelligent thing to do on either crewmembers part. The Engineer should have known better than to let this guy try to do something that, for all intents and purposes, can't be done. The Conductor should also have known the territory and known said bridge was close by.

Yes, very sad indeed.

The clearance involved in this incident sound awfully tight. Hard to believe such a condition exsisting on a class 1 railroad.

Some, not very many, units have a digital fuel readout mounted in an area above the fuel tank. However, it would be hard if not impossible to be seen from the running board.

My question is why in the world would this crew have even thought that a fuel reading was so daggone important at that very moment?

If a dispatcher asks me for a fuel reading and there is none available on the display screen he will just have to wait until the train comes to a complete stop and I can get out on the ground to check it out.

BTW, most fuel gauges on the tanks don't work or the site glass is too dirty to see the fuel level. Then they send a man out to dip the tanks. This happens quite frequently.

 Sometimes the dispatchers will ask us when we are taking a train from Kenova to Williamson,WV how much fuel our locomotives have.But this is something that I usually check when doing my walk around inspection of my locomotives.

 But to do this leaning out the window while moving...not a great idea.You cannot see your fuel reading from the cab window.

 All new locos. that the NS have,do have the readouts in the computer screen.And most of the rebuilt units that the NS are doing have a fuel readout display above the Engineers area.

 A few years back I read of a crew member getting killed hanging out their window while passing thru a bridge,in the BLE newsletter.Bad thing indeed

Navasota River.  As in TX?

You hit the nail on the head, Hot.

Yes, in Texas. According to the guys on trainorders.com it was on the BNSF Conroe Sub just west of Navasota Jct.

Check the fuel gauge(s) prior to departing if one isn't sure about the amount on board; never try something like that on a moving consist.  Sad it happened to the crewman.