YUTAN, Neb. — Bernard M. Balkus, a 52-year-old train conductor from Omaha, reportedly was trying to scare dogs off the track when he slipped and was run over by the train he was riding, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
The accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday on the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway line.
“We are deeply saddened,” said Steve Forsberg, a Burlington Northern spokesman. “From what I understand, he was a very conscientious employee who apparently was trying to perform a conscientious act.”
Balkus had worked for Burlington Northern since 1969, Forsberg said.
It’s rare, he said, for a railroad worker who rides on trains to be involved with a fatality.
“I can’t think of a recent incident,” Forsberg said. “Typically, the type of employees involved in a fatality are the ones working on the ground to begin with.”
In 2001, 26 railroad workers and contractors died in U.S. train accidents, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Wednesday’s accident occurred about a half-mile north of Nebraska Highway 92, between County Roads 5 and 6, Saunders County Chief Deputy Leon Woehrer said.
The train, which operates out of Fremont, Neb., was traveling south between 15 and 20 mph, Woehrer said.
Crew members saw Balkus head to the front of the locomotive, Woehrer said, and stopped the train after noticing he was no longer there. Balkus was believed to have been killed on impact, Woehrer said.