Knott’s Employee Killed by Park’s ‘Calico’ Train

A Knott’s Berry Farm worker who operates the popular Calico Railroad ride was killed Sunday evening, crushed between two passenger cars in what officials said is the first employee death in the theme park’s 76-year history.

The fatality took place about 6 p.m., just as the park was closing for an hour before reopening for the evening as “Knott’s Scary Farm,” a Halloween-themed attraction.

A handful of park employees were in the area at the time, but it was not immediately clear if anyone witnessed the accident, said Tom Mehrmann, vice president of park operations and entertainment.

“We really don’t know if it’s mechanical failure or human error, but he was crushed between two passenger cars on the railroad,” Mehrmann said. “This is the first employee fatality in our park’s history. Needless to say, the Knott family and Knott management is shaken.”

The name of the employee was withheld until his wife and daughter could be notified. The employee, a fireman engineer, had worked for the park for three years and spent all of that time working on the Calico Railroad ride, Mehrmann said.

The Calico Railroad is an authentic steam locomotive dating back to before the turn of the century, and has been in operation in the park since 1952. The ride travels a looping course and runs through the center of the park, picking up passengers along the way.

It will be out of service while park officials investigate what went wrong, Mehrmann said. State officials also will investigate the accident, officials said.

“We will keep it down until we determine the cause of the accident,” he said.

The park reopened at 7 p.m. for its Knott’s Scary Farm evening session, Mehrmann said. The railroad ride is not normally used during evening operations, he said.

The death of the Knott’s Berry Farm employee is the second this year involving amusement park workers in Southern California.

In May, a part-time roller coaster attendant at Six Flags Magic Mountain was killed when she was hit by a train of cars filled with visitors.

Cherie La Motte, 25, of Valencia stepped onto the tracks in front of the loading area where she worked about the same time that a five-car train--which had been standing still in a staging area a few feet away with returning passengers--started up again to complete the ride, park representatives said.

She was thrown from the tracks into a cramped pit below, where paramedics found her dead of massive injuries, officials said.

A park representative estimated that the train, starting from a dead stop, was traveling about 4 mph at the time of impact.

That accident occurred May 30 on the Revolution roller coaster, officials said. No one else was injured.