WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Allen Yash’s family believe the Fenton man is lucky to be alive after surviving a horrific head-on train crash.
But the 52-year-old railroad veteran has encountered tragedy before — on the same track — during his 32-year career.
Yash, who remains hospitalized, was involved in a fatal collision in 1992 just six miles south of last month’s accident.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on Feb. 2, 1992, Yash was at the controls of a southbound Grand Trunk train when two Michigan State Police troopers — rushing to help an officer who radioed for assistance — tried to beat it to the Scott Lake Road crossing in Waterford Township.
Witnesses say the patrol car passed six vehicles stopped at the railroad crossing, ignored the flashing lights and the closed gates and drove into the path of an oncoming freight train.
The train, traveling about 47 miles per hour, couldn’t slow down in time to avoid a collision that killed Troopers James R. DeLoach, 26, and Steven J. Niewiek, 24.
Editor’s Note:
BLE Division 812 (Detroit) member A.M. Yash has been a BLE member for 30 years and is 52 years old.