(The Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph posted the following story by Sharon K. Woulfe on its website on February 5.)
LEXINGTON, Ill.– A 50-year-old Lexington man died Tuesday evening when he lost his balance on railroad tracks while carrying groceries and was hit by a train.
The accident was reported at 5:45 p.m. near the intersection of the 600 block of West Main Street and the railroad.
The victim, Larry Ryan, was returning to his home when he fell on the tracks and tried to right himself, said McLean County Coroner Beth C. Kimmerling.
She said the Amtrak train’s whistle was blowing and the warning signals were working. The intersection has gates and lights. The accident was not at the gates but near them on property next to Myers Inc., which served as a place for emergency workers to warm up from the cold.
Several family members arrived at the scene to talk to Kimmerling while accident reconstruction work was being done.
The Amtrak train with 110 passengers on board was bound for St. Louis and was parked a quarter of a mile away, the coroner said. It was cleared to resume its journey about three hours after the accident, McLean County sheriff’s police said.
The death occurred on a Union Pacific-owned St. Louis to Chicago line.
The coroner said she could not stress enough the importance of exercising great caution at railroad crossings.