Conductor seriously injured after falling from train car in Beaver County

BADEN, Pa. — A conductor was seriously injured Tuesday night after falling from a train car in Beaver County.

Beaver County 911 dispatchers said emergency crews were called to railroad tracks near the Pinney Street Bridge in Baden at 7:10 p.m.

The conductor fell from a tank car he was riding while the train was being moved into the Norfolk Southern receiving yard, the National Transportation Safety Board told Channel 11 in an email.

Quick action on scene

First responders treated the man on scene before he was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital, according to a release from the Beaver Valley Regional Police Department.

“One of the paramedics from Baden Fire Department, two of our officers — one officer is an EMT, the other one is our first aid CPR instructor — got on scene, spoke with the individual, immediately began care, and started to work toward the end goal of getting him into a trauma center,” Beaver Valley Regional Police Chief Michael Priolo said.

Priolo said the man, who suffered severe leg injuries, was able to speak with medics as they quickly jumped into action.

“He was able to answer questions about his care. He was able to talk. Past that, there’s not a lot we can get into about what he said, but he was conscious, semi-alert, and able to answer some of the basic questions,” Priolo said.

Police called the hospital at 6 a.m. Wednesday to get an update on how the man is doing. At that time, he was out of surgery and in the intensive care unit.

“He’s got a long uphill battle, and all of our thoughts and prayers are with him,” Priolo said.

A stretch of Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) southbound was closed after the crash until about midnight.

Probing the cause

The NTSB, Federal Railroad Administration and Norfolk Southern Police Department are now investigating.

The NTSB tells us a team of investigators will head to the scene Wednesday. They will be looking at a wide variety of things, including recorders from the train, maintenance records, surveillance video, witness statements, and will do a 72-hour background check of the crew to determine if there were any issues that could have affected the operator’s ability to safely operate the train.

The NTSB referred to the fall as an accident, but said it will not speculate on the cause during the investigation.

Anyone who saw the accident or has video of it is asked to email witness@ntsb.gov.

A preliminary report is expected within 30 days on the NTSB’s website.

A team effort

Priolo said he is extremely grateful for all of the local departments that responded.

“I am always amazed whenever I have the opportunity to stand back and see all of the resources that we can put to bear to help a single individual that is a stranger to us, and the amount of people that are willing to come out and dedicate their time and energy to this, not only the guys that are getting paid, but the volunteers that are here? It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Priolo said.

Priolo said they will be doing a briefing with all of the crews who were on scene Tuesday night in the coming days and offer any sort of help they might need.

Norfolk Southern said their thoughts are with their employee and his loved ones.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW