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ST. LOUIS — Four months after a man from Caseyville saved the village from potential catastrophe, railroad officials formally have recognized his efforts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Caseyville Board of Trustees, officials of CSX Transportation Inc. presented Larry King, 60, a plaque pronouncing him a hero.

Officials said it took nearly four months to present the award to King because they were searching unsuccessfully for Wendell Richie, 59, a neighbor who also helped. CSX officials tried unsuccessfully to find Richie and still have not spoken to him.

In late July, King prevented the derailment of a train that may have been transporting toxic, even explosive materials. He spotted debris littering the tracks beside his home and frantically signaled an approaching train. The engineer spotted him and slowed the train enough to avoid a derailment.

Although railroad officials could not specify what train Q565 was carrying that day, they said the trains going through the area often transport materials such as liquid propane or hot asphalt. King’s quick action may have prevented widespread damage and a mass evacuation and certainly saved the crew from injury and perhaps death, officials said.

July 27 started as a usual day for King as he worked on a house on East O’Fallon Drive that he is building for his wife and himself. But while working, “I glanced over at the railroad tracks and saw cross ties, trees, and metal piled up on it.”

The debris was scattered over 75 yards of track.

King grabbed his cell phone and called 911 as he ran toward the tracks. The operator quickly notified railroad officials.

“CSX railroad called and said that all traffic had been stopped,” King said. He was relieved, but “I got ready to leave, and guess what I hear?”

A train was rounding the bend. He looked at the debris and looked at the bend. There was no way the engineer could spot the danger in time to stop. “So I took off running,” King said. “I took off my shirt and flagged it down.”

At that point, Richie said, “I was sitting on my porch and saw him running down the railroad tracks.”

King’s shouts of panic and his wildly waving shirt got the attention of the engineer’s, who slammed on the brakes, which squealed under the strain. The train screeched past King heading for the debris, nudging toward disaster. But it stopped short.

“The man who got off the train said that the cow catcher (the very front of the train) would have knocked off the railroad ties, but the little things would have caused a derailment,” Richie said.

The train crew, King, and Richie then cleared away the debris.

“It looked pretty obvious that it was set up to cause problems, (perhaps) a derailment,” said Tom Thalheim, the train master for Indiana who also was overseeing operations in Illinois that day. There are no suspects, he said. This incident could have resulted in a villagewide calamity.

“Most cars coming out of East St. Louis are going to have hazardous materials,” said Thalheim.

Thalheim said King’s actions were heroic. By running toward the train, King had made himself vulnerable if it had derailed. So, on Tuesday night, Thalheim presented King with the plaque.

“We appreciate increased awareness from people in communities we go through. Where there is a potential for danger, call 911,” Thalheim said. “Given the facts of Sept. 11, we’ve had to have increased vigilance. Transportation (companies) have been the target in most instances.”

He stressed that although CSX does all that it can, everyone should be on the lookout.

“We have to work as a team,” he said. “There is no evidence of terrorist involvement in this particular incident. We can’t afford to take chances.”