Tragedy on the Tracks
Louise Hoffman Broach / Wayuga Editor
Wednesday, February 3 2010
For the third time in less than a month, a car got stuck at a railroad grade crossing in Macedon and was hit by a CSX freight train. As in the previous accidents, there were no injuries. Mark Bellinger, 24, of Lyons, was not so lucky, however. He died Jan. 30 after he apparently walked in front of a CSX train off Franklin Street in Lyons.
MACEDON - For the third time this winter, a car has become stuck at a grade crossing in Macedon and hit by a CSX freight train. The latest incident occurred Jan. 28 at the Quaker Road crossing. A car driven by James R. Giancursio, 33, of 3236 Blue Spruce Drive, Macedon, was eastbound on Quaker Road at 6:19 a.m. when Giancursio slid on some ice as he went over the crossing and ended up getting hung up on the tracks. He called 911, and the dispatcher told him to get out of the car. “From the time he placed his call to 911 it was about two minutes till the gates came down. It was a very quick time, and he had just enough time to get out of the vehicle,” said Chief John Colella of the Macedon Police Department. The car was demolished and the train sustained some damage, according to Wayne County sheriff’s deputies, who also responded to the scene. There were no injuries Traffic on Quaker Road and on the tracks was stopped for about two hours while the accident was investigated and cleaned up. Colella says this is the third accident in the past month at different crossings in Macedon. There are three major railroad crossings in Macedon, and accidents tie up resources for hours at a time. He says meetings will be held between the Macedon Police Department, The Town of Macedon and CSX to come up with ideas on how to make the crossings safer. In the meantime, Colella says drivers need to watch out. “A lot of it is motorists not slowing down due to slippery conditions. We urge the public to use caution when they approach the tracks whether the gates are up or down.”
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