By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
A 59-year-old Eagle woman was hospitalized after an Oct. 5 collision with an East Troy Electric Railroad car at the Byrnes Street railroad crossing.
According to a police report from the Village of East Troy Police Department, shortly after 3 p.m. a train from the East Troy Electric Railroad was traveling eastbound crossing over Byrnes Street.
The police reports at the same time, Sherrie C. Bay, of Eagle, was traveling southbound on Byrnes Street and allegedly failed to stop at the posted sign at the railroad crossing.
As she crossed over the tracks, she was struck by the oncoming train, at a perpendicular angle, causing severe damage to the vehicle. Bay suffered an injury to her back during the incident and was transported Waukesha Memorial Hospital.
Witnesses and passengers of the train told police they saw Bay fail to stop at the intersection, according to the report.
Village of East Troy Police Chief Alan Boyes said according to department records, this is the first incident the railroad has called the department about since approximately 2011-2012, which wasn’t even an accident.
Boyes said the railroad has made complaints about crossings, specifically the crossing at Highway 20, and the department attempts to keep an eye on them.
“When we’re able to, we’ll watch that crossing,” he said.
According to Boyes, the railroad provides the department with a train schedule so the department has an approximate time they can send officers to monitor the crossing.
“It’s unfortunate, being a small department, but when we have the ability, we do sit out there,” he said.
While some have been questioning the safety of the railroad, citing recent incidents of derailments, Chairman of the East Troy Electric Railroad Board Bernie Van Dinter said it’s nothing to be concerned about.
“We’ve had a number of people make false and misleading statements over the past 15 to 20 years,” he said.
“We’ve got a pretty routine operation.”
Van Dinter, who said trains typically travel between five to 10 mph through the village, noted while incidents occur, they’re typically not a concern and the railroad contacts authorities when it is.
“It’s pretty much a non-incident,” he said.
In the case of mild derailments, Van Dinter said the railroad can typically get trains back on the track using their own locomotive depending on the location.
In regards to an Aug. 25 incident, where a train slipped off the tracks about 100 feet from the depot, Van Dinter said the location played into how long it took them to get the train back on the tracks.
“The one referred to took us three days to get back on the rails, mainly because we were on the top of an embankment,” he said. “We couldn’t get equipment in there and our own equipment wasn’t adequate, so we had to hire a contractor.”
