Articles

ELDERLY COUPLE'S FAMILY DESCRIBES TRAIN COLLISION
(As reported in Chicago Tribune)
By Jeff Coen
February 8, 2001

On his way to meet his 72-year-old parents for lunch one day last month, Jerry Velarde was forced to detour around a freight train stopped at an Army Trail rail crossing near Bloomingdale.

After taking an alternate route, Velarde eventually reached the restaurant.

"I made it there, and they didn't," he said Wednesday, pausing to control his emotions. "They never came."

A Ford Explorer carrying his parents and sister was struck by the train that had delayed Velarde on Jan. 9. It would be 45 minutes before Velarde learned he had driven by the scene of a crash that left his parents clinging to life.

The 26-year-old Addison man joined his sister and several other members of their family at a news conference at the Chicago offices of his parents' attorney. For the first time, they spoke about the crash on the Canadian National Illinois Central railroad. The family has filed two negligence suits in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking unspecified damages.

Separately, federal investigators said Wednesday their investigation into the crash is nearly complete, and miscommunication between company dispatchers and the train appears to be to blame.

Signals at the Army Trail Road crossing had been malfunctioning because of melting snow, and the crossing had been placed on a list of trouble spots where engineers were to stop their trains to make sure that lights and gates were working. A dispatcher apparently mistakenly released the crossing from the list after a signal maintainer completed work at a nearby crossing, investigators said.

The Velarde family's attorneys seized on that theory, calling the error "sloppy" at best. Attorney Timothy Cavanagh played a tape of the communications between a railroad dispatcher and the train crew. A spokesman for Canadian National Illinois Central has said the company is conducting its own probe, which is not yet finished. The company's attorneys declined to respond to allegations made at the news conference or answer questions from reporters.

Cavanagh said the recordings he has obtained during the discovery phase of the family suit paint a clear picture of the crash.

On one tape, the signal maintainer can be heard telling the railroad's Homewood dispatcher that he has finished repairs to signals at Schmale Road and Wolf Road. A short time later, the train crew is heard inquiring about whether they are to "stop and protect" at the Army Trail Road crossing, an order that calls for the crew to flag down traffic at the disabled signal.

"Yeah, it's been repaired, over," the dispatcher can be heard saying, giving the all clear.

"Been repaired, all right," answered a crewman.

A short time after the noon crash, the crew can be heard reporting to dispatch that it struck a vehicle in the crossing at milepost 29.7, the Army Trail crossing.

"Yeah, we hit an automobile at 29.7, over," the crew reported.

"Okay, you hit an auto, OK," came the response. "You gonna need an ambulance? Over."

"Yeah," the engineer reported.

"Do you know if the crossing protection was working? Over," asked the dispatcher. "John, do you know if the crossing protection was working?"

"I could not tell, over."

Cavanagh said he will petition the court to expedite the proceedings, considering the Velardes' age and their health.

Fidel Velarde suffered a closed head injury but has fluid on his brain and will require surgery soon, Cavanagh said. Velarde also suffered a torn aorta and fractured ribs, he said.

Francisca Velarde suffered a head injury as well, which has left her dealing with severe headaches, Cavanagh said. Both are in rehabilitation.

Their daughter, Lilia Apulello, who was driving the SUV, was not seriously injured, but has been in the care of a psychiatrist, Cavanagh said. She was present at the news conference, but did not respond to questions about the incident.

Canadian National Illinois Central spokesman Jack Burke said settling the case out of court is an option for the railroad. He declined to comment specifically on what might have contributed to the accident, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"It is incorrect to make a gross generalization about operations because of this one incident," said Burke who said the railroad has one of the nation's best safety records. "It's an isolated incident."

Jerry Velarde said his main concern is for his parents. The crash has left his close-knit family devastated, he said.

"It's been very painful to see our parents and sister go through this," Velarde said. "Every day it's just pain, every day. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."