
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994                   TAG: 9408300097
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: ELLISTON                                LENGTH: Short

TEEN DIDN'T TRY TO ESCAPE TRAIN

The engineer of the train that ran over an Elliston teen-ager Friday night told sheriff's deputies the boy never moved as the train approached.

Kenneth W. Johnson Jr., 17, died Sunday morning at Roanoke Memorial Hospital from injuries he sustained when the Norfolk Southern train ran over him as he lay on the tracks. Both his legs were amputated, and he also sustained head injuries.

According to reports filed by Montgomery County deputies, Johnson was found lying between the rails of a railroad track near Matz Oil Co. and milepost 276 of the railway system.

T.J. Henderson, the engineer, told deputies "he spotted what appeared to be a box of trash straddling the tracks [about] 150 feet before impact," according to the report.

Henderson "didn't realize that what appeared to be trash was a body," the report states.

The 26-car train was going about 25 mph when it hit Johnson, who lived near the tracks at Hale's Trailer Park.

Sheriff Ken Phipps said Monday that an investigator has been assigned to assist Norfolk Southern in its investigation.

"How he got there and the last person to see him alive - that's what we're interested in," Phipps said.

Johnson's family members said Sunday that Johnson never went near the railroad tracks alone.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB