A memorial fund has been established for the three killed in a collision between a shuttle-van and freight train in Kelso, Wash., March 23.
A second fund was established to assist a UTU-member and conductor critically injured in the accident.
Killed in the collision at a private highway-rail grade-crossing were BNSF conductor-trainee Christopher Loehr, 28; BNSF locomotive engineer Thomas Kenny, 58; and van driver Steven Sebastian, 60. Critically injured was BNSF conductor Dwight Hauck, 51, a member and trustee of UTU Local 324, Seattle.
Hauck, Loehr and Kenny, who had brought a BNSF freight train from Seattle to Kelso, were passengers in the BNSF-provided shuttle van driven by Sebastian when it was hit by a BNSF freight train at the crossing. A Federal Railroad Administration investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.
Donations to the memorial fund will be divided equally among the families of Loehr, Kenny and Sebastian. They should be sent to:
Donations to the fund to aid the injured Hauck and his family should be sent to:
Dwight Hauck Fund Account 8277835552 Wells Fargo Bank 999 3rd Ave. Seattle, WA 98104Related News
- NTS Day 3: Railroad safety improvements driven by member reports
- NTS Day 3: America’s transit safer because of union member efforts
- TD NTS: STB chair and vice chair address officers, assure labor will have input
- TTD president: Labor needs to stick together to maintain progress
- TD National Training Seminar begins; officers train to confidently represent union members
- SMART-TD transit union conducts first Bus/Transit Day on the Hill
- Chairperson ensures that new bus members get what’s owed to them
- LACMTA reconstitutes in-agency police force to protect workers, riders
- Open enrollment for the SMART-TD VLTD and VLIFE plans begins for rail and bus members
- SMART-TD excited to welcome Coaster to its passenger rail/commuter family