Man Walking Near Tracks Hit by Train

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

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

About 6:30 a.m., he was walking west on a narrow path along the south tracks 100 yards from the Bradford Street crossing when an Amtrak train passed him heading east on a second set of tracks farther from him.

Moments later, a westbound Burlington freight approached his back on the tracks next to him. The engineer blew the train whistle as soon as he saw the man, police said, but they said Mata may have thought the whistle was from the Amtrak train that had just passed him, also blowing its whistle.

That may have led the victim 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 whistles at the city’s 11 grade crossings. The company had abided by the city’s ban on whistles 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 whistles at night while the city tries to qualify as one of the 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 freight line has done everything it can to alert people to the danger 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 whistles in emergency situations like Friday’s.

The Burlington train that struck Mata was about to complete a run from New York City to Los Angeles. It was traveling about 40 mph, Loomis said.

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

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.