(June 8, 2026 – Marysville, Kansas)
A farmer was killed and two train crew members injured in the afternoon of Monday, June 4, in a collision between farm equipment and a Union Pacific train in northeast Kansas. The catastrophic collision occurred at around 4:40 p.m. just two miles northwest of Marysville on a private crossing south of 675 Harvest Rd.
The driver of the farming equipment has been identified as Ryan S. Friedrichs, 41, of Marysville. Tragically, Ryan Friedrichs died as a result of the collision. The two train crew victims have been identified as conductor Ricki G. Robertson and engineer Ryan C. Banahan.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that Friedrichs was traveling southbound on the private driveway in a 2008 Rogator farm sprayer when his vehicle was struck on its driver’s side by a westbound Union Pacific train. Friedrichs was ejected from the vehicle on impact and was pronounced dead on the scene. The two Union Pacific employees were also seriously injured in the collision. They were transported to Community Memorial Healthcare for treatment.
Union Pacific submitted data to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) indicates that the crossing where the crash took place is a private at-grade railroad crossing owned by Union Pacific. Approximately 35 trains travel through the crossing on a daily basis, traveling up to 60 miles per hour. There is heavy vegetation on Union Pacific’s property that likely obstructs the view of an oncoming train for motorists, especially slow-moving farm equipment. Due to the private nature of the crossing, it is unknown whether the train horn was blown to alert motorists of its presence.
Notwithstanding the heavy flow of train traffic at the crossing, the crossing is not equipped with any active warning devices, such as gates, lights, or bells. As a result of the lack of passive and active warnings at the crossing and the intersection’s location in a rural farming area, it may present dangers for motorists, especially those in large agricultural vehicles that may inherently disrupt sight lines and audibility of train horns.