MINERAL SPRINGS, N.C. — CSX conductor Phillip E. Crawford Jr., 33, and locomotive engineer James Gregory Hadden, 36, were killed early May 24 in a rear-end collision here involving two CSX freight trains, according to news reports. Mineral Springs is some 30 miles south of Charlotte.
Crawford was a member of UTU Local 970, Abbeville, S.C. He signed on with CSX in October 2005.
Two crew members on the lead train, which was hit from the rear, suffered minor injuries, reported the Charlotte Observer.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the North Carolina train collision, and a member of the UTU Transportation Safety Team is assisting the NTSB.
A CSX spokesperson told the Associated Press that the rear-end collision occurred on northbound tracks and involved one train enroute to Hamlet, N.C., from New Orleans, and another enroute to Charlotte from southern Georgia. Each train was pulled by two locomotives; one pulling nine freight cars, and the other 12, said CSX.
In Ft. Worth, a BNSF switch foreman and UTU Local 564 member, Paul Young, 28, with almost seven years’ service, lost both legs and an arm after being hit by a train in BNSF’s Alliance Terminal of May 23. Young, a resident of Haslet, Texas, reportedly was performing a gravity switch at an ethanol plant at the time of the accident.
Related News
- SMART-TD Reaches Tentative National Agreement with Carriers
- Spotlighting Rail Safety During See Tracks? Think Train® Week
- Shifting Views on Pattern Agreement
- SMART-TD Pride on Full Display for Labor Day 2025
- Congressman Resurrects Attempt to Nullify Federal Two-Person Crew (2-PC) Rule
- SMART-TD Intensifies the Push for Stronger Transit Safety Laws
- SMART-TD Yardmasters Reach Tentative Agreement
- For Wisconsin’s State Legislative Director, Role is More Than a Title
- Get the Facts on the Union Pacific Arbitration Award from SBA 1208!
- New Jersey Passes Two New Pro-Labor Laws Backed by SMART-TD