CLEVELAND, November 6 — A BLE member was injured and a conductor was killed early this morning when the contract van they were riding in was involved in an accident.
The van, owned by a private van company and under contract by CSX Transportation, was transporting the workers from their hotel to the yard in North Bergen, N.J. at 5:30 a.m. According to BLE sources, the conductor, James P. McMahon, was killed. McMahon was a member of the United Transportation Union. The locomotive engineer, BLE Division 46 (Albany, N.Y.) Secretary-Treasurer John Moore, is in serious condition at a Jersey City, N.J. hospital.
The accident allegedly occurred when the van the two employees were riding in made a left hand turn into the yard and was struck by another vehicle.
“I would like to extend the deepest sympathies of the BLE to the family of the conductor who was killed,” said BLE International President Don M. Hahs. “We also wish Brother Moore a speedy recovery.
“Accidents like this one are tragic. In the past several years, the BLE has attempted to bring up the dangers of contract cabs and this accident just demonstrates why we should be concerned.”
On March 21, 2001, BLE member R.J. St. Marie, along with a conductor and a van driver, was killed in a deadhead accident near Alexandria, La. Their van was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler in a construction zone on Interstate 10 as it traveled to their drop-off point.
No further details regarding today’s accident are available at this time.