Two teens lucky to escape train on Mountain Green bridge
May 13, 2021, 3:56 PM
(Photo: Mountain Green Fire Protection District)
MOUNTAIN GREEN, Utah– Two young women who’d been taking pictures on the old railroad bridge over the Weber River barely escaped being hit by a train Tuesday evening. Sergeant Lucas Green with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office says one was able to jump down from the bridge, but the other tripped as she was running away.
“It’s still under investigation as to whether she was injured by the train, but she actually slipped between the railroad ties, and during the fall, she received a large laceration on her leg,” Green told KSL Newsradio.
Trouble keeping people away from the Mountain Green bridge
Green says there are no-trespassing signs prominently posted on the bridge, but they still have trouble keeping people away.
“We still have an issue with people fishing from the bridge and taking pictures, disregarding the no-trespassing signs,” he said.
A spokesperson for Union Pacific Railroad says safety on the tracks is their top concern. Nathan Anderson noted they conduct ongoing safety programs to warn people about the dangers of walking or taking pictures on the train tracks.
“We have the utmost empathy for people whose lives impacted by accidents on rail property, and that’s why we want to make sure they’re not there,” he said.
Anderson says a freight train can take up to a mile to stop, and accidents have a serious effect on rail crews as well as those who might be injured on the tracks.