(The following story by Stan Finger appeared on The Wichita Eagle website on December 19.)
WICHITA, Kan. — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway officials have launched “a thorough investigation” of the collision between two trains near Mulvane Monday morning.
The collision at 9:57 a.m. knocked five railcars off the tracks and sent two people to Wichita hospitals.
Engineer Lisa Brown is in serious condition at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus, and conductor S.J. Bobbitt Sr. is in fair condition at Wesley Medical Center.
BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said he did not have the victims’ ages or hometowns.
Sedgwick County authorities have reported that the northbound BNSF train was supposed to stop to allow a southbound BNSF train to clear the main line. But the engine’s momentum carried it into railcars trailing the southbound engine.
“I’ve heard several different scenarios, and that was one of them,” Faust said.
The causes “are never clear-cut,” he said. “That’s why we do these investigations.”
The tracks have been cleared in the wake of the collision, Faust said, and normal service has resumed.