(The following story by Jacques Von Lunen and Arthur Gregg Sulzberger appeared on The Oregonian website on August 17.)
PORTLAND, Ore. — The two men who were struck and killed by an Amtrak train in view of hundreds of visitors to the Clackamas County Fair on Friday night had driven onto the tracks, possibly confusing it for nearby Oregon 99E.
A third man, a passenger in the car, was trying to push the gold Mitsubishi from the tracks when the train approached. The man, who was not identified, jumped to safety, while the driver and a passenger remained inside, a Canby Fire District official said Saturday.
When the car was hit, it erupted into flames as it was pushed down more than 1,400 feet of track before it came to a stop.
“It appeared that they were attempting to drive down the railroad track, then they either got stalled or got stuck,” said Troy Buzalsky, a fire district spokesman.
In the past, others have mistaken the tracks for the highway, which runs parallel to the tracks, he said. “This was just incredibly bad timing for that mistake.”
The names of the two men will not be released until Monday to allow time to notify their families, he said.
None of the 50 passengers on the Eugene-bound train were hurt in the collision.
The accident occurred just outside the Clackamas County Fairgrounds, where hundreds of visitors were attending the fair and rodeo, which runs through today. Though the main show had wrapped up for the evening, other activities were scheduled to run until 11 p.m., so many visitors were still on the grounds.
Earlier Friday, a Union Pacific Railroad employee with the Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement program spent much of the day patrolling the crossing to ensure that fairgoers departed safely, giving warnings and tickets to cars that stopped on the tracks as traffic backed up. But he left shortly before the collision occurred.
The train, which had an engine at each end with about eight passenger cars between, was headed south after departing from Seattle. The speed limit for that section of track is 70 mph, said Karina Romero, an Amtrak spokeswoman. The railroad crossing is marked with gates, lights and bells.
Amtrak passenger Adaam King of Seattle was seated in the middle of the train, headed to his parents’ home in Eugene. At 10:20 p.m., passengers felt a bump, and then the train screeched to a halt.
King said he rides the train regularly and never experienced such a stop before. He soon smelled a strong odor of fuel. Then a train crew member entered his car and told the passengers to move as far back as possible before they were evacuated.
Another southbound train had to make an emergency stop to prevent a pile-up, Buzalsky said.
Canby firefighters responded within minutes to put out the fires in the car and the front of the train.
Passengers were taken by taxis to their destinations, and the train was brought back to Portland for repairs. Oregon 99E was closed for more than three hours.