HERNDON - An elderly Herndon couple were killed Wednesday morning when their 2000 Buick LeSabre was hit by a train at a crossing in the borough.
Earl E. Hollenbach, 78, and his wife, Edith A. Hollenbach, 76, who lived in the Rivershore neighborhood, apparently crossed the tracks headed west onto Rivershore Drive at about 11:51 a.m. when their vehicle was struck by a southbound Canadian Pacific train that included three engines and 24 cars.
Mr. Hollenbach was driving the car, according to state police at Stonington. He and his wife were pronounced dead at the scene by Jim Gotlob, a Northumberland County deputy coroner. In an autopsy report released later Wednesday evening, Northumberland County Coroner James F. Kelley said that both victims died from blunt force trauma and their deaths were accidental.
Ruby Husband, director of public relations for Norfolk Southern Corp., Plymouth Meeting, said the train was headed from Binghamton, N.Y., to Enola.
The car was pinned under the front of the engine, which pushed it 2,165 feet, or more than four-tenths of a mile, according to police. The couple were trapped in the wreckage of their vehicle, according to Herndon Fire Chief Tony Gilligan.
The crossing, behind Herndon National Bank, is clearly marked with signs and flashing signals and visibility is good in both directions of the train tracks, Gilligan said.
Rivershore Drive is the only public road in the borough that crosses the railroad tracks, not counting a boat access road at the south end of town. There are about 20 houses on "Rivershore," a one-street neighborhood located between the railroad tracks and the Susquehanna River.
Trains going through the town travel at 35 mph, Gilligan said.
"To the north you can see for a mile and to the south you can see every bit of a half-mile," he said, wondering, as others did, why the couple didn't see the train approaching.
"It really threw me for a loop, you never expect anything like this to happen," said Herndon Borough Council President Joel C. Wetzel.
Wetzel said he knew the Hollenbachs his entire life. He lives on Rivershore near their home, which is two doors down from his grandmother's house.
"They were people I saw on a daily basis. They were just normal blue-collar, hardworking, really good people."
A white sheet covered the car after the accident to shield onlookers from the scene until Gotlob arrived. The train and car stopped behind a row of houses that front Route 147 in the borough.
About an hour after the accident, a state police helicopter circled the scene as police took photographs of the area to aid in both theirs and Norfolk Southern's investigation. Rescue crews later surrounded the scene with tarps as they cut the roof from the mangled car to extract the Hollenbachs.
The train's conductor was John Pieklo, 57, police said; they did not provide a hometown. Pieklo was not hurt, police said.
In addition to state police and the Herndon Fire Company, Pillow Fire and Rescue, Lower Mahanoy Fire Company, Dalmatia Area Ambulance, Americus Hose Ambulance of Sunbury and Norfolk Southern's police department responded.
The accident is under investigation by state police, the coroners office and railroad officials.
Third 'large-scale' incident
Gilligan noted that Herndon and surrounding emergency responders have had their share of "large-scale" incidents in the first half of 2011.
"This year seems to be quite the year as far as unusual incidents and the scale of what they have been," he said at the scene Wednesday.
The first incident occurred on Jan. 17 when a 27-year-old transient, suffering from an apparent chemical burn to his stomach, sought medical help, prompting dispatch of a host of emergency responders and a hazardous-materials team. The man had said he rode into town the night before on a train and slept at a pavilion along the railroad tracks not far from the scene of Tuesday's car-train impact. He was sent through a portable decontamination shower in a parking lot near the senior action center that cold afternoon before being transported to a hospital.
Eight days later, sparks from a torch used to remove scrap metal ignited a fire that destroyed one of the large buildings that make up the Herndon Reload complex at the north end of town, also near the railroad tracks. In total, 24 tankers, 11 engines, three ambulances, two ladder trucks and other fire units were dispatched to fight the massive blaze. The building contained an estimated 13 train-car loads of lumber.