Locomotive Kills South Dakota Farmer at Dangerous, Unguarded Crossing
(Brookings County, South Dakota – September 14, 2012)
A Volga, SD farmer, hauling two farm wagons full of just-harvested corn, was killed Friday afternoon at about 12:30 P.M. when his Ford tractor was struck by a Canadian Pacific-subsidiary Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern locomotive at the intersection of West 10th Street and DM&E/CP railroad tracks a mile west of Brookings, SD.
Stanley Hesby, 71, died when the impact from the locomotive tore the tractor cab from the vehicle’s rear axle, ejecting the victim.
The West 10th Street crossing of DM&E/CP has no active protective system such as flashing lights, bells or crossing gates, depending instead upon standard, passive railroad crossbuck signs to “protect” the driving public from accidents with trains. Railroad industry-generated sources say the installation of active protective systems could prevent over 90% of all train/vehicular crossing tragedies.