TRAIN PASSES OVER DUCKING BOY ON BRIDGE

CHAFFEE -- A train engineer shouted instructions from the front of his locomotive at a 9-year-old boy who found himself trapped on a railroad bridge as the train rumbled toward him.

Following the engineer's instructions, the boy laid down as the train passed over him.

Neither the boy nor five others who were on the trestle were injured in what the engineer, W.R. "Billy Ray" Geiser of Dutchtown, described as a horrifying experience.

The incident occurred April 23 in the St. Louis area.

Geiser, a Burlington Northern engineer, said: "We came around the curve going downhill, approaching the trestle, which was about 150 to 175 feet away. All we saw were people: six of them out on the bridge,"

Geiser and his student engineer, David Townsend of Chaffee, were en route from Chaffee to the railroad's Lindenwood Yards in west St. Louis County. Also on board was the conductor, Lynn Stubbs of Chaffee; the head-end brakeman, Marvin Seyer of New Hamburg; and the rear-end brakeman, Randy Stroup of Chaffee.

After crossing Lindbergh Boulevard, Townsend started to apply the air brakes to slow the train to 30 mph for a 25 mph speed limit on the track ahead. Just around the curve was the 547-foot-long Alpha Cement trestle between South Lindbergh and Reavis Barracks Road.

As the lead locomotive rounded the normal 45 mph limit curve, the train crew looked on in horror as the six people an adult, three young boys, and two teenaged boys stood on the trestle, unaware of the approaching train.

Instantaneously, Geiser said he pulled a series of short blasts on the locomotive whistle while Townsend put the 4,218-foot, 4,000-ton air brake system into emergency.

As soon as he heard the approaching whistle, the man on the bridge, Jerome Norvell of 10257 Revis Gardens in St. Louis County, grabbed his sons, Sampson and Joshua, and ran toward the edge of the bridge.

Two older teenagers, Dan Biel of 10702 Roxanna Drive, and Jim Street of 11114 Fawnhaven, were at the far end of the bridge and reached safety first, followed by Norvell and his two sons.

But 9-year-old Joe Becker, who was walking with Norvell and his sons, was still about 50 feet from the end of the trestle.

As the train continued forward, brakes screaming and smoking, Geiser quickly realized Becker wasn't going to make it.

Geiser ran from the cab to the front of the locomotive, which was now about 50 feet from the boy.

"I could see his eyes; they were as big as saucers," Geiser said. "He was standing in the middle of the tracks, not sure what to do."

At the side of the trestle was a narrow, wooden guardrail to support the railroad ties.

"I knew he wouldn't make it if he tried to stand on the guardrail," said Geiser. "There wasn't room. But, if he laid down flat, the overhang and steps of the locomotives would pass over him, if he didn't raise up," Geiser said.

Geiser said he yelled as loud as he could for the boy to lay face down on the guardrail.

"I wasn't sure if he heard me. He stepped over the rail and knelt down on the guardrail as if he were confused. I yelled again for him to lay down and don't move. He understood, and dropped face down, just as the first locomotive passed over him."

By this time, Geiser was on the bottom step of the lead engine. He watched the boy as the locomotive passed over him.

"I wanted to make sure he didn't raise his head and be hit by the trailing locomotives," Geiser said. "I kept waving and motioning to him to keep his head down. He listened."

When the train stopped, the four locomotives and 10 of the 66 freight cars had passed over the boy.

While the train crew regained their composure, one of the teenaged boys crawled out on the trestle and helped the 9-year-old back to the end of the bridge with Norvell and his sons.

After making sure Becker was safe and the track clear, Geiser backed the train to the edge of the bridge.

"When I got off, I was shaking pretty badly. My student engineer could hardly walk when he got on the ground," Geiser said.

County police and railroad officials were called to question the father and the train crew.

For Geiser, the near-tragedy was a horrible flashback of what happened "six months and four hours to the day" at another Burlington Northern railroad trestle, that one north of Ste. Genevieve.

Geiser was at the controls of a train when it struck and killed a pregnant woman walking with her husband and family members on the bridge. "It's something I'll never forget," he said.

Although the number of these tragedies has declined during the past 10 years, Burlington Northern Trainmaster Bill Belongy says they still happen all too frequently.

"One reason we have so many railroad pedestrian fatalities and injuries between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis is the number of people who live in the vicinity of the railroad and trespass on our tracks and property," he said.

"We have just as serious a problem right here in this area with trespassers who walk on our tracks at Trail of Tears State Park to get to the old quarry."

Belongy said hills and sharp curves make it difficult to see or hear an approaching train on the tracks between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis.

"The fact is, people are not supposed to be on our tracks or bridges in the first place. It's for their own safety," the trainmaster said.

For Geiser, what happened in November 1990 will remain with him the rest of his life. But this time, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he cheated death out of the life of a 9-year-old.