(Source: Washington Post, July 11, 2017)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to the National Transportation Board’s initial summary of the fatal Jun. 27 collision, the two men, a CSX conductor and a CSX conductor trainee, were returning to their train after inspecting a defective rail car in an area where there are four parallel tracks, two belonging to CSX and two to Amtrak. There were two Amtrak trains traveling through the same spot. Amtrak 175 was southbound in the same direction as the stopped CSX freight train. Amtrak 66 was traveling in the opposite direction, the report said. Engineers of both Amtrak trains told investigators they sounded their horns when they spotted the CSX employees on the tracks. Investigators said the two men, identified as Stephen Deal, 20, of Meyersdale, Pa., and Jake LaFave, 25, of Cumberland, Md., were struck and killed by Amtrak 175 at around 11:18 p.m. The train was traveling about 73 miles per hour when it hit the men.
Full story: Washington Post