(The following story by Nancy Reardon appeared at Enterprise.com on March 27. Ronald Gomes is a member of BLET Division 57 in Boston, Mass.)
CANTON, Mass. — The engineer of Train 917 saw the runaway freight car barreling down the track toward his stopped train Tuesday night, but he did not jump.
Ronald Gomes’ split-second decision to stay in the train cab so he could radio for help has train officials calling him a hero.
“I’m somewhat in awe of his professional discipline, and I’m extremely proud,” Gerry DeModena, the general road foreman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co., said Wednesday. “I would call his actions heroic, and those of the crew.”
Gomes, 61, conductor Richard Platt, 44, both of Rehoboth, and assistant conductor Christopher Leaman, 39, of Marshfield, were on board the Stoughton-bound commuter train during rush hour Tuesday when it was hit by a runaway freight car filled with lumber.
All three suffered minor injuries, but only Gomes was hospitalized. He was released Wednesday morning after being treated for facial injuries.
Gomes has worked on freight, passenger and commuter trains since 1969.
Following protocol, Gomes stopped the train after track signals alerted him at 5:13 p.m. of a signal problem ahead.
Gomes did not yet realize the problem was triggered by the freight car, which had rolled onto the tracks three miles away at 5:10 p.m.
At 5:14 p.m., the boxcar passed through the grade crossing at Canton Center and triggered a red light on the cab’s control deck that alerted Gomes of an object on the tracks. Seconds later, he saw the car heading toward him and, following protocol, radioed in to ask permission to put the train in reverse.
“He could have opted to climb off the train, but he didn’t. He held his post,” DeModena said, noting that action was not required. “Ronny stayed in the cab to call and give his position.”
The impact of the car “slammed the engineer all over the cab,” DeModena said.
“(Gomes) got up, covered with blood and got back on the radio and called with his position to get help for the passengers.”
When he spotted the oncoming freight car, Gomes alerted the conductors so they could warn the passengers to brace for impact.
Without that warning, DeModena said, “I think it would have been far more disastrous.”