(The Associated Press circulated the following story on May 7. Brother Larry Wayne Edenfield was a member of BLE Division 35 in Jacksonville, Fla.)
SAVANNAH, Ga. — An Amtrak locomotive engineer died Wednesday from injuries sustained a day earlier when his train collided with a lumber truck in southeast Georgia.
Larry Wayne Edenfield, 53, of Macclenny, Fla., died at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, about 30 miles northeast of the crash site at a dirt-road crossing near Hinesville.
The crash early Tuesday also killed the driver of the lumber truck and injured an additional 22 passengers and four crew members.
Amtrak said Edenfield, a 30-year railroad worker who spent 17 years at Amtrak, died with his family at his side.
Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn offered his condolences in a statement, calling Edenfield a veteran locomotive engineer with an excellent record.
This tragedy touches us all, and we mourn his untimely passing, Gunn said.
The Amtrak Silver Star was carrying 150 passengers through southeast Georgia en route from New York to Miami at 7:25 a.m. early Tuesday when it collided with the lumber truck.
The impact demolished the truck and killed its driver, Boyd James Van Horn of nearby Richmond Hill. The trains engine and all 10 cars left the track, but remained upright.
None of the passengers or other crew members suffered life-threatening injuries. On Wednesday, all who required hospital treatment had been released except one passenger being kept for observation, said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black.