Freight Train Kills Pedestrian in Placentia

A 27-year-old man walking beside railroad tracks in Placentia’s Old Towne was killed by a passing freight train early Friday along a stretch often used by foot traffic, mostly laborers taking a shortcut to nearby day job pickup locations, authorities said.

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. freight train’s engineer blew repeated loud horn blasts, but Manuel Mata of Placentia may not have realized he was in danger, investigators said.

About 6:30 a.m., Mata was walking west on a narrow path alongside two sets of tracks 100 yards from the Bradford Avenue crossing when an eastbound Amtrak train passed him on the tracks farthest from him. Moments later, a long Burlington freight train heading west approached Mata from behind on the tracks next to him. The engineer blew the train’s horn as soon as he saw the man, police said, but Mata may have thought the horn was from the Amtrak train that had just passed him, which also blew its horn.

That may have led Mata to believe he was safe, so he did not move farther from the tracks, Placentia police spokeswoman Corrinne Loomis said.

The incident underscores the safety issue at the heart of the city’s fight with Burlington over its April 1 decision to renew blowing train horns at each of the city’s 11 grade crossings. The company had abided by the city’s ban on horns for 20 years but decided to resume blowing them in preparation for new federal guidelines that will require them except in special federal “quiet zones.”

When hundreds of residents protested the noise, Burlington agreed not to blow the horns at night while the city tries to qualify as one of those quiet zones by upgrading crossing safety. New medians, crossing arms and other measures could cost the city as much as $5 million.

“This unfortunate tragedy brings home the whole point that safety must be a major concern,” Burlington spokeswoman Lena Kent said.

The company has done everything it can to alert people to the dangers of walking along the tracks, she said. “We’ve blown our horns at joggers and people who can’t hear us because they’re wearing headphones. It’s deceptive how quickly a train will come upon these people. They need to stay off the tracks.”

City Public Works Director Chris Becker said Placentia has always supported blowing the horns in emergency situations like Friday’s.

The Burlington train that hit Mata was nearing the end of a run from New York City to Los Angeles. It was traveling about 40 mph, Loomis said.

Mata was walking on a path between the tracks’ supporting rock bed and a steep embankment, where businesses are separated from the tracks by a chain-link fence. He was apparently struck by the grab rails used by the train crew to climb aboard freight cars. He was thrown about 30 feet, in front of a small manufacturing company, Innovator Sweepers.

Railroad Dangers Don’t Deter Walkers

Carla Meza, a manager at the company, said the tracks are used constantly by men who gather on nearby Crowther Avenue, just off Bradford, to be hired by contractors seeking day laborers. Police say they are not sure if Mata was a day laborer, but one of the men on the street said he and Mata had worked together before.

“They know it’s dangerous on those tracks, but it doesn’t stop them,” Meza said.

Vera Davis, who works at the nearby Taco Bar & Grill on Bradford, said she often sees people walking along the tracks when she comes to work about 6:30 a.m. “But it’s not just here, it’s all over the city,” she said.

Loomis acknowledged that people walking along railroad tracks is “a big problem in this city. But until now we haven’t had any accidents.”

Since the flap with Burlington over the horns, Placentia police have beefed up patrols at grade crossings and arrested dozens of drivers who try to beat trains by zigzagging past lowered warning arms. Police have also stepped up their searches for trespassers along the tracks, Loomis said.

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In Harm’s Way

A 27-year-old man who was struck and killed while walking next to railroad tracks in Placentia may have been unaware that a train was approaching him from behind, police say.