Brother Wayne Connor, 56, died of injuries stemming for a highway-rail grade crossing collision near East Feliciana Parish, La., on June 26, 2000. A loaded log truck collided with Brother Connor’s CN-Illinois Central locomotive, causing the trains’ forward locomotive to derail and run into a trackside embankment.
Brother Connor was elected chairman of the BLE’s Louisiana State Legislative Board just days before his death. He also served as president of Division 914 (Baton Rouge, La.). The fatal collision happened exactly one week after Brother Connor’s 56th birthday. He first joined the BLE on Jan. 1, 1979.