Mystery of woman's death in Westport solved - hit by train

Trainlawyer wrote:I have been following this one and a number of things simply do not compute such as conveniently finding the phone and earring immediately under where the train stopped. Even if already slowing for the Westport station the train would not have stopped at precisely the point of impact.

While I have ridden over that bridge some hundreds of times going all the way back to green EP3s and DL109s, and now on an Acela, I am not that familiar with the day-to-day operation, I have a few questions which I hope one or more of you can answer.

1. Was the train which stopped on the bridge scheduled to stop at Westport?
2. If not, which track was it on?
3. What are the speed limits, restrictions etc over the bridge?
4. Is that walkway public or is it just for the bridge tender?

Thank you

GME

Well, since I'm retired I can give some answers.......

The train was a local from New Haven to Stamford, so yes it was making a stop in Westport.

The train was on track #3

The speed in the area is less than the speed on both sides (east & west) of the station.

There is a public access walkway along side track #4.

Nevertheless, the things CC stated are general facts for all trains traveling over those tracks. It doesn't mean the train in question was not operating faster or slower than the posted speeds, or that the crew was alerted to look out for someone on the bridge, or that the headlights were properly lit or that no trespassing signs were posted and visible just before the incident not the day before. Anything else stated on these boards is speculation, seeing as MNR downloaded the data from that train and most likely no one here was an eyewitness to what happened. So we are back to square 1.

One thing I agree with you is when you say there are too many holes to be certain of anything.

As a lawyer I'm sure you know of many incidents where the railroad is found out fault. I have a family member who works for a law firm that defends the RR in CT and from what I hear it's a profitable practice to defend MNR. And yes, what is said on these boards is not important in the grand scheme of things, but since when has what is important mattered most to people? Things stated on these boards have been used in the media to portray the railroad and its workers in negative lights, both justified and unjustified. The fact is that a woman unfortunately lost her life because of what happened.

As I said before, either way the truth of what actually happened will come out and if necessary those at fault will be held accountable. In a matter as serious as this I think it inappropriate to ask members here to offer their opinions as to what actually occurred and then for those opinions to be presented as fact not in a court of law but rather in the media. I feel that way particularly because this has already happened with things posted on these boards and others in the past.

My opinion may also be biased seeing as I have been in this exact situation before, having struck something at nite along the ROW and not knowing what it was hoping it wasn't a person and never finding what we hit. I wouldn't want to be portrayed as someone who was careless and indifferent to possibly killing someone on these boards or the media.

Perhaps only a few years ago, it wouldn't have been a problem, but in today's world everything is traceable and can be made public.

Just my 2 cents.

Everyone: There were news reports on News 12 Connecticut about this incident-that is how I originally found out about this...
(available on interactive from other News 12 regions such as Long Island) Link: http://connecticut.news12.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I feel unfortunately that the actual cause of this woman's death may never be exactly solved and only she knows what happened
if this was a tragic accident or a case of suicide...and this is another unfortunate "black eye" for MNCR...

I noted that the bridge in question has pedestrian walkways on one side open to the public - would this be a good place to photograph
MNCR New Haven Line trains? Has anyone posted any pictures taken there?

MACTRAXX

yes the walkway is great picture site.
as for black eye for MN, I don't think so, crew did all it was suppose to do, so did RTC.
remember headlights on train are not there to see things, they are there to be seen.
a person may be seen in headlight at 800 feet but it takes train 2400 feet to stop, at 50 mph.

I do wonder if this incident would be such a big deal if all the other bad things had not happened to MN in 2013?

Clean Cab wrote:I do wonder if this incident would be such a big deal if all the other bad things had not happened to MN in 2013?

How many people get bit by trains in other areas and it never makes news? Probably a combination of both.

RearOfSignal wrote:

Clean Cab wrote:I do wonder if this incident would be such a big deal if all the other bad things had not happened to MN in 2013?

How many people get bit by trains in other areas and it never makes news? Probably a combination of both.

Trespasser incidents are weekly occurrences on Long Island...hardly ever makes the news here.

Part of the problem with this event is Blumenthal flapping his gums how the cops weren't called. Should the body have been immediately found they would have.

What's going to be next, trains will have to be held up every time a deer gets hit for the cops to tag it?