(The following story by Josh Kelley appeared on The Arizona Republic website on November 5.)
PHOENIX, Ariz. — A retired locomotive engineer, 86-year-old Art Dalmolin knows what it’s like to watch your train kill helpless people caught in its path.
So when he learned about the death of 54-year-old Janet Sanders Orchard of Orlando, who was killed in a Union Pacific train accident Wednesday in Gilbert, his mind returned to gruesome memories and his heart went out not only to the victim, but to the train’s crew.
“I knew how they felt,” said Dalmolin, who lives in Gold Canyon.
During his 12 years working for Union Pacific decades ago, Dalmolin said he was in two trains that he could not stop before they struck and killed people at railroad crossings in California. He said he also witnessed the aftermath of a train crash that killed a bus full of military men and their dates on the way to a dance near Riverside, Calif.
“I will never forget them,” he said.
Orchard, driving a Mercury Grand Marquis, had rear-ended the car of 18-year-old Victor Velasquez Jr. as she was westbound on Guadalupe Road. They both pulled over, and she parked the Mercury on the railroad tracks. Then they talked and were exchanging information.
As the train approached, a bicyclist came over to warn them, said Gilbert Officer Scott Coody, who investigated the accident. Before moving his car, Velasquez told police, he brought Orchard her day planner, which she left on the trunk of his car, Coody said.
Orchard was inside her car and could not find her keys, Velasquez told police.
The train was approaching, prompting lights and gates to go off, so Velasquez moved his car. He last saw Orchard inside her car, looking for her keys.
At that point, the train engineer and conductor experienced what Dalmolin did years ago. They saw Orchard in their path at the railroad crossing on Guadalupe just west of Cooper Road, but didn’t have enough time to stop the train.
They told police she was outside of the car she had parked on the railroad tracks. They reported seeing her walk to the rear of the car, walk to the driver’s side door and close it, and then walk back toward the rear of the car, according to Gilbert Officer Scott Coody, who investigated the accident.
At that point, the train crashed into the front right corner of the car, Coody said. The car spun and struck Orchard, propelling her 75 feet down the road.
Velasquez and a nurse came to her aid, but Orchard was later pronounced dead at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn.
For Dalmolin, Wednesday’s tragedy was a brutal reminder to be careful around railroad tracks.
His advice: “Be alert at all times.”