THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240498
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
A federal judge put the brakes on two years of litigation Tuesday, ruling that Amtrak is not liable for a 1992 derailment in Newport News caused by two young men who vandalized a rail switch.
Judge Robert E. Payne ruled that the derailment that injured 79 people was an accident caused by a criminal act, and Amtrak could not have prevented it.
In so ruling, Payne threw out 60 lawsuits against the railroad, just two weeks before the cases were scheduled for trial.
The lawsuits arose from the crash of the Amtrak Colonial on Aug. 12, 1992. The passenger train barreled off the tracks at 79 mph with such force that the engineer crashed through the front window. Later, the 60 passengers sued Amtrak and CSX Transportation, which owns and maintains the tracks.
The passengers did not sue the vandals who are in prison with virtually no money.
On Tuesday, after an all-day hearing, Payne entered summary judgment for Amtrak and CSX, saying there was no evidence that the companies were responsible.
``There was no basis on which a jury could reasonably return a verdict'' against Amtrak or CSX, the judge said.
Amtrak was pleased by the ruling. ``It's a shame it took two years for us to prove there was nothing out there,'' said the company's lawyer, David C. Bowen.
The passengers' attorney, however, was bitter. ``You take your life in your hands when you go on Amtrak,'' lawyer Stephen E. Heretick said.
Some injured passengers had settled their claims against Amtrak out of court for undisclosed amounts. The 60 who sued had offered to settle their cases for an average of about $40,000 each, but Amtrak refused.
One injured passenger who sued - Gwendolyn Sharoff, 53, who owns a Williamsburg retail shop - was angry when she heard of the judge's ruling. Her husband Michael, 76, a former aeronautical engineer, broke his collarbone and tore both rotator cuffs in the derailment. He was forced to retire soon after.
They and the other passengers who sued have not received any compensation for the crash. Michael Sharoff still owes $3,000 in medical bills.
``All we did was get on that damn train and our whole life has changed,'' Gwendolyn Sharoff said Tuesday. ``We still have nightmares. We don't sleep. It's really messed up our life.''
The derailment was caused by two young Coast Guardsmen stationed in Portsmouth, Joseph Loomis, then 19, and Raymond Bornman, then 18. They cut the padlock off a switch at Bell King Road, then threw the switch, sending the train hurtling onto an industrial siding. Some cars skidded onto their sides and slid down an embankment, but no one was killed.
Later, authorities learned that Loomis was obsessed with trains and had dreamed of derailing one for years. He had committed many smaller acts of vandalism against train tracks, switches and signals, including unsuccessful derailment attempts, elsewhere in Virginia and near his hometown of Monmouth, Ill.
Loomis and Bornman pleaded guilty to the derailment last year and were sentenced to 17 1/2 years and 16 1/2 years in federal prison, respectively.
Amtrak officials say they could not have prevented the vandalism. They note that Loomis and Bornman defeated two security measures at the switch: a reinforced padlock and an electronic lock controlled by dispatchers in Florida.
But the passengers' attorneys argued that the tampering should have set off signals at the Florida dispatch office, and that CSX should have ``spiked'' the rail so it could not have been switched by vandals.
On Tuesday, the judge ruled that the first argument was mere speculation. On the second point, he said there was no proof that ``spiking'' a rail is an accepted industry practice. He then dismissed the cases.
Heretick, the passengers' attorney, said he was not sure whether he will appeal the ruling. ILLUSTRATION: Color FILE PHOTO
The Amtrak Colonial derailed in Newport News, injuring 79, after two
young Coast Guardsmen tampered with a track switch.
FILE PHOTO
The Amtrak Colonial derailed Aug. 12, 1992. Two men pleaded guilty
last year to vandalizing the tracks before the accident.
Color photo
A passenger, Gwendolyn Sharoff.
Photo
The judge, Robert E. Payne
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT RULING VANDALISM TRAIN DERAILMENT AMTRAK by CNB