Authorities have identified a man who was killed Sunday after being struck by a Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train near Hermosa.
The man’s mother died in a similar fashion 15 years ago just a mile away.
John Logan Caldwell, 28, of Hermosa, died about 5:25 p.m. while walking south on the train tracks next to Hermosa Mobile Home Village, 32222 U.S. Highway 550, where he lived.
The train, which also was traveling south, tried to slow down and blew its whistle in rapid succession, said Tom Cowing, investigator with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. But Caldwell kept walking along the tracks, he said.
Caldwell was not deaf; it is unknown if he wore headphones, but it is unlikely doing so would have prevented him from hearing the train, Cowing said.
The incident occurred about 120 yards south of the intersection with Conoco, Mama’s Boy and Hermosa Liquors.
“Apparently, he was dealing with some personal issues and some medical issues,” said Dan Bender, spokesman with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. “So we’re looking at whether any of that may have contributed to what occurred.”
Caldwell’s mother, Lorie Caldwell, was killed June 20, 1998, while walking on Highway 550, which runs parallel to the railroad tracks.
The 38-year-old woman appeared in the middle of the southbound lane and was struck by a car traveling at 65 mph. The accident occurred about 10 p.m. in the 31000 block of Highway 550, about a mile south of where her son was killed.
No charges were filed against the driver, who tried to swerve to avoid her.
Her son would have been about 13 at the time.
Efforts to reach family members Monday for comment were unsuccessful.
It was the first local suicide by train since Sept. 25, 2001, when a man hid in a bush just north of Demon Bridge in Durango, waited for the train to approach, stepped onto the tracks in front of the train, knelt down, smiled toward the train and rested his head on the track.
The man was decapitated.
shane@durangoherald.com
