89-year-old taken to hospital after train collision
By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer Wednesday, July 25, 20072 comment(s) | Default | Large
An 89-year-old Orangeburg man and his car were thrown across Magnolia Street Tuesday morning after a collision with a Norfolk Southern train.
Investigators say a vehicle became caught between the railroad crossing barriers on Peasley Street when they came down in front of and behind it.
"We have a situation where a vehicle was apparently trying to cross over on Peasley," Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Chief Wendell Davis said. "He stopped and the crossing arms came down and he got stuck.
"At that point, he did move his vehicle and as a result he was struck by the train which was moving in the direction of McDonald's."
Jerry Welfare of Bramble Lane was taken to the Regional Medical Center to be treated. Investigators were unsure Tuesday afternoon if the injuries Welfare suffered were serious.
"We do know that he sustained some injuries, but we don't know the extent," Davis said.
The collision happened at about 10:08 a.m. as Welfare turned from Magnolia onto the Peasley Street crossing. Welfare's 2002 Buick Century was struck with such force that it crossed the four lanes of Magnolia Street and stopped on the sidewalk in front of Claflin University.
The speed of the train is not believed to have been a contributing factor to the collision at this point, Davis said.
"From all indications, the train was traveling at the speed" allowed by law, "based on an officer who was there," he said.
No one else was involved in the accident, Davis said. There were no reported injuries on the train.
While stopped, the 4,800-foot train blocked only the intersections connecting Magnolia and Boulevard Streets.
PSO II Thomas Gibson is leading the ongoing investigation into Tuesday's collision.
The railroad line from Claflin University to the Glover Street crossing has experienced the county's most serious train-car collisions.
Earlier this year, a train slammed into a van, tossing it into the air before it crashed down into a nearby ditch. The van had stopped on the tracks, waiting for a car ahead of it to move from the Whitman Street junction with U.S. Highway 601.
Two people were able to get out of the van during the Feb. 1 collision. One individual could not get out of the van. He did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
At that same intersection in November, a woman bailed out of her car before it was struck by a train.
A Columbia woman bailed out in Aug. 2006 at the same intersection where Tuesday's collision occurred after her car stalled on the tracks.
"I continue to be concerned about the accidents we have with trains and cars," Davis said. "It just seems that number seems inordinate for our area."
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.
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swillabill wrote on Jul 25, 2007 9:12 PM:
eorussell wrote on Jul 25, 2007 11:35 AM: