(September 10, 2026 – Cass County, Nebraska)
Early last Thursday, a grandfather and grandson were found deceased after their vehicle was catastrophically struck by a Union Pacific train as they traversed a crossing in rural Nebraska. The tragic collision occurred in the early hours of September 10, just before 6 a.m., southwest of Plattsmouth at the crossing near the Church Road and 12th Street intersection.
The two victims have been identified as Vernon Hayes, 73, and Gabriel Johnson, 22, both of Kingsland, Texas. According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the two men were struck by the northbound Union Pacific train as they were driving west on Church Road in a Mazda SUV. Police found the two victims still in the vehicle and pronounced them dead at the scene.
Records for the Church Road Crossing identify Union Pacific as the sole operating railroad. According to Union Pacific’s submitted records, the crossing sees an average of 6 trains daily, traveling at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Two vehicle-train collisions have occurred at the crossing in the last decade.
Dense, tall, and wide-ranging vegetation along the track right-of-way creates a significant visual obstruction for motorists on Church Road, severely limiting motorists’ reaction time. Despite the prior collision history and sight-obstructing vegetation, the Church Road Crossing has no active warning devices, such as lights and gates. It is virtually certain that the installation of lights and gates at this crossing would have prevented this tragic loss of life. Studies from over fifty years ago confirm that lights and gates can reduce vehicle-train collisions by up to 96%.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the collision.