From the Railspot list on Yahoo! Groups: Message: 14 Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 22:47:41 -0600 From: Bob Tickner <***************> Subject: Railfan killed by Train in the Chicago area A sad story from the MidRail list. A fellow Railfan was struck and killed by an Amtrak train. We can never let our guard down around the railroad. This is a tragic way to loose your life doing something we all enjoy. See below. Bob Tickner Denton,TX --------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat Mar 8, 2003 11:49 am From: Bill Christopher Yesterday I was stunned and deeply saddened to learn that my good friend Kent Desormey died. Kent was struck by Amtrak train 332 on the Canadian Pacific Railway at Gurnee, IL, at 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 7, 2003. The accident happened about 250 feet north of the bridge over Rte. 41, right around Milepost 39. Evidently Kent was trying to get some good winter photos or video in the fresh snow. The train was traveling at 78 mph; the engineer reported that he saw Kent on the tracks and sounded his horn. This is a very easy spot for a train to sneak up on you. There is a curve just north of there that obstructs vision. The nearest grade crossing is Wadsworth Road, almost four miles away. The snow pack on the tracks would have muffled the sound of the approaching train, and judging by the newspaper photos, the train was led by a control car (90208). Most accidents are an accumulation of contributing factors, which clearly happened here. This accident was reported on the front page of today’s Waukegan News-Sun, and on page 16 of today’s Chicago Tribune. Kent was an absolute prince of a guy. He was a loyal and generous friend, a loving husband and father, and an outstanding teacher. You couldn’t find a better person for working (or playing) with kids. He had a great gift for that. Kent was a big GM&O fan; he grew up in Pontiac, IL, and went to school in Jackson, TN. He had many adventures on the C&NW’s business car fleet in those glorious days when they were roaming the rails. The IC was also one of his favorites, and I figured out some years ago that if I didn’t want to get skunked on the IC, I had to make sure Kent came along. I knew Kent for about 20 years, and he was a safety-minded railfan; I never saw him take any foolish chances with a train, or with anything else, for that matter. I don’t understand how this happened. Right now I have lots of questions and no answers. It’s futile to search for a reason why this happened. And I need to emphasize that I don’t know all the circumstances. But this is a good time for all of us to reflect that while trains are fun to watch, ride and enjoy, we must never forget the unforgiving and lethal kinetic energy that every moving train possesses. None of us can afford to drop our guard for even a second. Please remember Kent’s wife, Jane, his daughter Dana and son Keith, and his parents in your prayers. Please also remember the Amtrak engineer who will be haunted by this for the rest of his days. Please remember that we must all find our own way to get right with God, for we never know when we will meet Him. Kent will be sorely missed by everybody who had the privilege of knowing him. Let us all resolve to be extra safe anytime we’re around the railroad, for our sake and the sake of our family and friends, and for the memory of my fine friend, Kent Desormey. Bill Christopher March 8, 2003 _________________________________________________________________________ _ Waukegan (IL) News Sun http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/top/w08train.htm Amtrak train kills Gurnee man By Paul Pfeifer STAFF WRITER GURNEE IL — A 51-year-old Gurnee man died Friday morning after being hit by an Amtrak passenger train, Gurnee police Cmdr. Jay Patrick said. Kent Desormey was pronouced dead at the scene at 9:45 a.m., Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Wipper said. The accident occurred at 8:45 a.m. on the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks, approximately 250 feet north of Route 41. Police said Desormey was climbing an embankment onto the tracks as Amtrak train No. 332, headed south to Chicago from Milwaukee, came around a curve at 78 mph. The train's engineer told police he saw Desormey on the tracks and sounded the train's horn. At the time of the accident, there was limited visibility due to snow, but it was unknown if that contributed to the crash, Patrick said. The accident is being investigated by Gurnee police, the Lake County coroner's office and Amtrak railroad police. However, authorities said it doesn't appear the incident was a suicide. Patrick said Desormey was a train enthusiast and had been known to watch trains as they speeded past. (NOTE: If you read, the train in question had the control car, which meant the locomotive was pushing the train. This obviously menas there's not much noise, and also means that the train was on this poor guy before he even knew what was going on. I won't even get into the gruesome result of 1000 tons of train traveling at 70-plus MPH striking about 200 pounds of human being. Yes, we have to deal with security concerns in these dangerous times, but we can't forget just how dangerous the objects of our affections can be. And as much as we scoff at those who get in the way of speeding trains (running crossing gates, etc.), it's hard to take when it's one of "our own" who lets his guard down & pays the price. Bottom line: follow the advice from the TV show "Hill Street Blues": "Let's be careful out there!" [ 10. March 2003, 16:18: Message edited by: friscobob ]
believe it or not i knew this guy from train shows and meets, he was a heck of a guy, never expected something like this from him. he was always talking about railfanning and how much a person had to be careful when doing it, it is truly a sad story.
