Oak Park teacher killed by Metra train
08-23-05, 05:25 PM
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Please keep my friend Trish and her family in your thoughts and prayers. This is a terrible loss for anyone who knew her.
Oak Park teacher killed by Metra train
Accident occurred Tuesday morning at Riverside station
By DAN HALEY
WEB EXTRA!
Patricia Quane, a veteran Oak Park elementary school teacher, was killed early Tuesday morning when the bicycle she was riding was struck by a Metra train in Riverside.
Quane is an Oak Park resident. She has taught in Oak Park District 97 schools since 1989 and was currently speech and language teacher at Holmes School, 508 N. Kenilworth Ave., said Gail Krantz, district spokeswoman. Krantz said that Quane has children but did not know how many or their ages.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning about 7:45 at the Riverside station, according to a report on the Chicago Tribune's web site. Quane was struck by an inbound express train on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line.
According to a Metra spokesperson a minor freight train derailment earlier Tuesday had the commuter train running on a different track than normal. It is not clear if that change had any impact on the accident. According to the Metra spokesperson, a local train was stopped to take on passengers at the Riverside station. Quane allegedly rode around the stopped train and was struck by the express.
Quane was not carrying identification and her body was not identified for several hours. District 97 said it received word of the accident on Tuesday afternoon.
Complete coverage of this accident will be included in the August 31 editions of Wednesday Journal and the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.
Oak Park teacher killed by Metra train
Accident occurred Tuesday morning at Riverside station
By DAN HALEY
WEB EXTRA!
Patricia Quane, a veteran Oak Park elementary school teacher, was killed early Tuesday morning when the bicycle she was riding was struck by a Metra train in Riverside.
Quane is an Oak Park resident. She has taught in Oak Park District 97 schools since 1989 and was currently speech and language teacher at Holmes School, 508 N. Kenilworth Ave., said Gail Krantz, district spokeswoman. Krantz said that Quane has children but did not know how many or their ages.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning about 7:45 at the Riverside station, according to a report on the Chicago Tribune's web site. Quane was struck by an inbound express train on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line.
According to a Metra spokesperson a minor freight train derailment earlier Tuesday had the commuter train running on a different track than normal. It is not clear if that change had any impact on the accident. According to the Metra spokesperson, a local train was stopped to take on passengers at the Riverside station. Quane allegedly rode around the stopped train and was struck by the express.
Quane was not carrying identification and her body was not identified for several hours. District 97 said it received word of the accident on Tuesday afternoon.
Complete coverage of this accident will be included in the August 31 editions of Wednesday Journal and the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.
08-23-05, 05:33 PM
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I knew her ,when i was a member of the oak park cycle club ,I rode with her in a group a few times .She was always trying to get me to lead rides.Keep me posted i would like to attend the wake.She was a nice person.I wish she had not ridden around the gates.The last time i was stopped at that crossing i waited.
Last edited by James H Haury; 08-24-05 at 04:35 PM.
08-23-05, 06:25 PM
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Oh man, I'm sorry. It only takes one "harmless" lapse, if it happens at the wrong moment.
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08-23-05, 07:30 PM
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This used to happen about once a year when I lived outside Chicago. A Metra train stops, and someone walks, drives or bikes around it and the lowered crossing gates only to get slammed by another train speeding through the crossing. People just never learn. My sympathies to the family.
08-24-05, 06:53 AM
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Here's the Trib's report on the story.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true
Sounds pretty clear that she rode around the crossing gates. I used to ride the BNSF from Naperville to Chicago through Riverside and would see people doing this every day at most of the inner suburban crossings. It's just not worth the 2 minutes saved!
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true
Sounds pretty clear that she rode around the crossing gates. I used to ride the BNSF from Naperville to Chicago through Riverside and would see people doing this every day at most of the inner suburban crossings. It's just not worth the 2 minutes saved!
Last edited by va_cyclist; 08-24-05 at 10:11 AM.
08-24-05, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by va_cyclist
I used to ride the BNSF from Naperville to Chicago through Riverside and would see people doing this every at most of the inner suburban crossings. It's just not worth the 2 minutes saved!
My sympathies to the families involved, as well as to the train crew, passengers and bystanders who witnessed this traumatic scene.
09-28-05, 09:14 PM
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Nothing of course will bring Trish back, but it may bring some comfort to those who knew her if the basis of the suit is proven true. After her death, others and myself said we were surprised she would disregard a crossing gate.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed
Suit: Worker waved woman into train's path
By Jon Yates
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 28, 2005, 3:22 PM CDT
A lawsuit filed today on behalf of relatives of a woman killed when
she was struck by a Metra commuter train alleges a railroad worker
waved her and others through a crossing into the path of the speeding
express train.
Patricia G. Quane, 52, of Oak Park was killed the morning of Aug. 23
when she crossed the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad
tracks in west suburban Riverside and was struck by an eastbound
train. She was riding her bicycle at the time.
Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, filed the suit this morning on behalf
of Quane's daughters in Cook County Circuit Court. The litigation
names Metra and the BNSF as defendants.
Spokesmen for Metra and the BNSF declined this afternoon to comment on
the lawsuit.
It is the latest suit to be brought against the commuter rail agency
following a fatal accident. More than 25 have been filed since a crash
Sept. 17 on the Rock Island District Line killed two female passengers
and injured dozens of other riders. Clifford is representing a number
of plaintiffs in that accident.
Speaking at a news conference at Clifford's office in downtown Chicago
today, Clifford partner Kevin Durkin said Quane's family wanted the
true story about the woman's death to come out.
Lisa Douglas, the victim's sister, said Quane was a very careful
person, especially when it came to bicycling, and would never have
crossed railroad tracks if the gates were down.
"What is more disturbing is Metra's blaming my sister for their own
negligence," Douglas said. "They owed my sister a duty to take care of
her. Instead, she was needlessly killed ... because of the reckless
conduct of railroad employees who then turned around and tried to
point the finger at my sister."
A witness to the accident, Bill Wilhelm, also spoke at the news
conference. Wilhelm said while he did not see Quane hit by the train,
he saw her waiting on a sidewalk moments before, and a pedestrian
crossing gate was raised.
The suit maintains railroad workers were at the scene, assisting in
the clean-up of an earlier BNSF freight train derailment nearby, on
one set of tracks. A local Metra commuter train was standing at the
Riverside station at the time, on a second set of tracks.
The suit alleges a witness saw a railroad employee beckon Quane and
other pedestrians to cross the tracks as workers at a control box
manipulated pedestrian crossing gates to hold them in an up position.
A railroad crane and the stranded freight train parked near the scene
blocked Quane's vision, and she apparently did not see a second Metra
train, an express, approaching on a third set of tracks, the suit
contends.
Quane, of the 1100 block of South Home Avenue, was a speech
pathologist who was president-elect of the Oak Park Bicycle Club.
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed
Suit: Worker waved woman into train's path
By Jon Yates
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 28, 2005, 3:22 PM CDT
A lawsuit filed today on behalf of relatives of a woman killed when
she was struck by a Metra commuter train alleges a railroad worker
waved her and others through a crossing into the path of the speeding
express train.
Patricia G. Quane, 52, of Oak Park was killed the morning of Aug. 23
when she crossed the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad
tracks in west suburban Riverside and was struck by an eastbound
train. She was riding her bicycle at the time.
Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, filed the suit this morning on behalf
of Quane's daughters in Cook County Circuit Court. The litigation
names Metra and the BNSF as defendants.
Spokesmen for Metra and the BNSF declined this afternoon to comment on
the lawsuit.
It is the latest suit to be brought against the commuter rail agency
following a fatal accident. More than 25 have been filed since a crash
Sept. 17 on the Rock Island District Line killed two female passengers
and injured dozens of other riders. Clifford is representing a number
of plaintiffs in that accident.
Speaking at a news conference at Clifford's office in downtown Chicago
today, Clifford partner Kevin Durkin said Quane's family wanted the
true story about the woman's death to come out.
Lisa Douglas, the victim's sister, said Quane was a very careful
person, especially when it came to bicycling, and would never have
crossed railroad tracks if the gates were down.
"What is more disturbing is Metra's blaming my sister for their own
negligence," Douglas said. "They owed my sister a duty to take care of
her. Instead, she was needlessly killed ... because of the reckless
conduct of railroad employees who then turned around and tried to
point the finger at my sister."
A witness to the accident, Bill Wilhelm, also spoke at the news
conference. Wilhelm said while he did not see Quane hit by the train,
he saw her waiting on a sidewalk moments before, and a pedestrian
crossing gate was raised.
The suit maintains railroad workers were at the scene, assisting in
the clean-up of an earlier BNSF freight train derailment nearby, on
one set of tracks. A local Metra commuter train was standing at the
Riverside station at the time, on a second set of tracks.
The suit alleges a witness saw a railroad employee beckon Quane and
other pedestrians to cross the tracks as workers at a control box
manipulated pedestrian crossing gates to hold them in an up position.
A railroad crane and the stranded freight train parked near the scene
blocked Quane's vision, and she apparently did not see a second Metra
train, an express, approaching on a third set of tracks, the suit
contends.
Quane, of the 1100 block of South Home Avenue, was a speech
pathologist who was president-elect of the Oak Park Bicycle Club.
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
09-28-05, 09:19 PM
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A witness to the accident, Bill Wilhelm, also spoke at the news
conference. Wilhelm said while he did not see Quane hit by the train,
he saw her waiting on a sidewalk moments before, and a pedestrian
crossing gate was raised.
conference. Wilhelm said while he did not see Quane hit by the train,
he saw her waiting on a sidewalk moments before, and a pedestrian
crossing gate was raised.
09-29-05, 04:56 PM
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Just out of curiosity, don't those things blow thier horns as they approach intersections and such?
I've got freights running across the back of my property and they start leaning on the horn well back from the crossings.
I've got freights running across the back of my property and they start leaning on the horn well back from the crossings.
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This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
10-02-05, 05:10 PM
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Assuming certain provisions are in place, a crossing can be designated a "quiet" crossing.
As of 2006, most crossings will be requiring trains to sound their horns...
As of 2006, most crossings will be requiring trains to sound their horns...
