Conductor Kenneth Paul “K.P.” Smith Jr., 59, of Local 1313 at Amarillo, Texas, died last week (June 28) when two BNSF trains crashed just outside of Amarillo. Two others, Cody Owens, 52, and Lara Gayle Taylor, 45, also died in the crash. Owens and Taylor were former members. A fourth, unidentified conductor, jumped from the train and suffered injuries.
Smith had been a member since 1977. He was known for having a love of the outdoors and had a passion for sharing his knowledge and skills with those he loved. In his free time, Smith enjoyed scuba diving and driving RZRs.
“While devastated by the sudden loss of Kenny, we intend to spend the upcoming days and weeks remembering the love he had for his family and a good adventure. K.P. took great pride in his 39 years of service with BNSF Railway. He will be missed deeply by those whose lives he touched,” the family said in a statement to Amarillo Globe-News.
Smith is survived by his wife Donna Smith, daughter Sarah (Tomas) Wrotten, son Kellen (Tana) Smith, mother Nancy Smith, brother Ricky (Jacquie) Smith; grandchildren Saylor Wrotten; Averey, Kysen and Ansen Smith. He was preceded in death by his father Paul Smith.
A celebration of life service was held Saturday, July 2. Click here to view Smith’s official obituary or here to leave condolences for the family.
Owens hired out with BNSF in 1994. He was known for his love of horses and the cowboy way of life. He also loved to hunt, fish, snow ski and water ski. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Claude.
Owens is survived by wife Cindy, daughter Riley Owens, sons Ty and Zackry Owens; mother Betty Owens; sisters Connie (Glen) Spiller and Cheryl (Danny) Hand; and grandmother Mildred Clendennen. He was preceded in death by his father Merle Owens.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 5411 S. Bell, Ste. 411, Amarillo, TX 79109, in honor of Owens’ father. A funeral service was held Saturday, July 2. Click here to read Owens’ official obituary or here to leave condolences.
Taylor loved her son, Jacob, and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. She was an avid athlete and was often found working out at the gym. She had three cats and a horse.
Taylor is survived by son Jacob, mother Patricia Pembridge, stepfather Paul, brothers Randy (Debbi) Morris and David Morris. She was preceded in death by her father Jerry Lee Morris.
Visitation and a memorial service were held Tuesday, July 5. Memorial contributions may be made to a trust fund set up for her son Jacob Taylor of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Click here to read Taylor’s official obituary and to leave condolences.
Tag: BNSF
On Friday, April 8, Amtrak filed a lawsuit against Cimarron Crossing Feeders, LLC, claiming “gross negligence” as the alleged cause of a derailment last month that left 32 passengers injured. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found in their investigation that one of the feed company’s trucks had struck the side of the railroad trucks, shifting the alignment of the tracks. The lawsuit alleges that Cimarron Crossing Feeders failed to notify BNSF, the owner of the tracks, or Amtrak, of the damage. Click here to read more from The Hutchinson News. Click here to read SMART TD’s March 14 report on the derailment.
The Wyoming Business Report has stated that as a consequence of decreased demand from the coal industry, BNSF is idling train cars and locomotives in Wyoming.
Read the entire article here.
The Seattle Times reported that the five activists who blocked BNSF tracks in Washington during September 2014 were recently convicted of trespassing.
Read the entire article here.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported that BNSF has recently laid off rail yard workers in North Dakota and Minnesota.
According to BNSF, the furloughs are the result of customer volumes decreasing. Read the complete article here.
NewsmaxFinance.com reported that Warren Buffett’s BNSF railroad, owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., may offer a competing bid for Norfolk Southern Corp, throwing a wrench in Canadian Pacific Railway’s efforts for a $27 billion takeover of Norfolk Southern.
Read the complete article here.
Railroad has tentatively agreed to pay $71,700 for faililng to timely report leaks of crude oil along the state’s railway system
OLYMPIA, Wash. — BNSF Railway has agreed to pay $71,700 for failing to timely report crude oil leaks and other hazardous material spills along the state’s railway under a proposed settlement agreement.
Read more from The Seattle Times.
Some BNSF Railway employees are sounding the alarm about what they say are unsafe working conditions as a result of long shifts that could lead to extreme fatigue while hauling hazardous materials.
According to one BNSF employee who contacted the Pilot, the company has imposed a new method of operation that has employees working 12-hour days, sometimes six to 10 days in a row.
“Such a safety sensitive job for engineers and conductors running trains that are up to 17,000 tons, hauling hazardous materials and such,” said the employee who declined to be publicly identified.
Read more from Bakken.com.
What is believed to be the largest frac sand unit train to date in North America was recently delivered by BNSF and Southwestern Railroad to Rangeland Energy’s RIO Hub near Loving, N.Mex. The RIO Hub is part of Rangeland’s RIO System, which serves oil and gas producers in the Delaware Basin.
The 150-car unit train, operated by BNSF, carried 16,500 tons of frac sand used in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). Powered by five locomotives it originated in Ottawa, Ill., BNSF handed the train off to short line Southwestern Railroad at Clovis, N.Mex., for delivery to the RIO Hub.
The unit train arrived on Oct. 2 and was unloaded within 22 hours. The sand was stored at the RIO Hub and will supply an operator with a large quantity of sand for high-volume fracking jobs in the Delaware Basin.
Read more from RailwayAge.
A noisy yellow machine laying down railroad track near Alva, Oklahoma — as much as a mile a day of concrete and steel — is Warren Buffett’s solution to the industry’s dwindling coal traffic.
After this year, Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway will be more than 99 percent finished with a second, parallel line to its 2,200-mile Los Angeles-to-Chicago route. Doubling up will create a rail superhighway speeding deliveries of toys, electronics, autos and other goods, because trains won’t have to yield to each other on sidings as they do on single tracks.
The goal: help the unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns BNSF, grab cargo now going by road.
Read more from the Star-Telegram.