ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997 TAG: 9704040076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
A Forest woman was in critical condition Thursday after falling 140 feet from a railroad trestle into the James River as she tried to avoid an oncoming train.
Authorities said Mandy Shackleford, 22, and Gabriel Forest, 23, were halfway across the trestle when they spotted the train, traveling at 60 mph. Forest escaped by climbing onto a steel support beam below the track, witnesses said. When Shackleford tried to follow, she fell headfirst into about 15 feet of water.
Shackleford was listed in critical condition at Lynchburg General Hospital. Norfolk Southern charged the pair with trespassing.
Since 1969, five people have fallen to their deaths from the trestle, which crosses from a Lynchburg park to Amherst County.
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Short : 27 linesby CNB