RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT. PENN CENTRAL COMPANY. ELECTROCUTION OF JUVENILE TRESPASSER ON PENN CENTRAL TRACKS AT WASHINGTON, D. C. MAY 14, 1971

On May 14, 1971, a male juvenile climbed on top of a draft of freight cars which had been left temporarily adjacent to the Penn Central Sixth Street Yard, Washington, D. C., and was electrocuted when he contacted the electrified catenary system. Within minutes thereafter, a police officer was seriously burned and knocked from the top of an adjacent car when he attempted to reach the stricken youth. The youth was apparently killed outright, but the police officer survived. There are few effective warning indicators in and around the accident area and no barriers that would discourage trespassers. Compounding the hazard in the area is a parking lot on which children congregate to play. There are no positive separation barriers between the railroad and the parking lot. Also prominent in causal factors to the injury of the policeman is the practice of Penn Central of immediately restoring an actuated circuit breaker when the cause of actuation is not known. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1972-3-29

Media Info

• Pagination: 25 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Crash investigation; Crashes; Electric current; Fatalities; Railroad crashes; Railroad electrification; Railroad trains
• Identifier Terms: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
• Uncontrolled Terms: Electrocution
• Old TRIS Terms: Electrical shock
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00039862
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-72-3
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 9 1973 12:00AM