Railroad Accidents Los Angeles

State investigators said Thursday they have been unable to determine why a freight train derailed last Oct. 8, sending a flatbed car crashing into a Mt. Washington apartment building. One resident was injured and two railroad workers were hurt during the cleanup. At a Highland Park hearing called by City Councilman Richard Alatorre, California Public Utilities Commission officials said eight cars left the track after a rail rolled outward, but said they do not know what caused the rail to move.

A 29-year-old Arleta man was killed early Friday when he ignored a railroad-crossing guard arm on the Southern Pacific line in North Hollywood and his car was struck by a train, authorities said. The motorist's name was withheld until relatives could be notified.

A train conductor was run over and killed by a passenger train Monday on a railroad trestle in East Los Angeles, officials said. Charles Dorsey, 52, of Rialto was struck about 6:54 a.m. by an Amtrak train as he walked along the tracks by Atlantic Boulevard between Bandini Boulevard and Sheila Street, Sheriff's Deputy Hal Grant said. Dorsey was a conductor for Santa Fe Railroad.

Police said a transient suffered severe foot injuries Monday when he was struck by a Southern Pacific freight train near the spot in Van Nuys where another man was recently hit in a similar accident. The latest victim, Roberto Perez, 21, was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. The accident occurred at Woodman Avenue and Saticoy Street, an area frequented by transients who sometimes sit on the tracks. Sgt.

Federal, state and county transportation officials used a heavily traveled railroad crossing as a backdrop Thursday to promote a public hearing aimed at reducing the number of fatal accidents involving cars and trains. In recent years, the crossing at Sunland Boulevard and San Fernando Road has undergone a series of safety improvements, most notably a synchronized traffic light system that prevents cars from "stacking up" on the tracks when a train approaches.

A 34-year-old man suffered a mangled foot Monday when four people who beat and tried to rob him threw him in front of a locomotive, Los Angeles police said. Humberto Arias, 34, of El Sereno was in serious condition at County-USC Medical Center, with a partial amputation of his right foot. Arias, an unemployed laborer, was walking home on Valley Boulevard from a friend's house about 1:45 a.m.

A 42-year-old man who apparently did not hear a Metrolink train approaching from behind was struck and killed Tuesday, according to authorities. The man's identity was being withheld pending notification of relatives, said Sgt. Charles Swanson of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division. The accident occurred at about 9:30 a.m.

A plan to install fences, warning signs, and a ditch to keep pedestrians off Metrolink tracks in Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima has been delayed about three months due to community meetings and bureaucratic requirements. The $864,000 project--originally scheduled for completion this month--was approved in March by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in response to a rash of deadly rail accidents in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

A San Fernando Valley man in his early 20s apparently killed himself Friday night by walking into the path of an oncoming Metrolink train in Northridge, authorities said. Witnesses told police that as the Moorpark-bound train neared Louise Avenue about 6:20 p.m. a man was seen walking along the center of the track, Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said. Repeated soundings of the train's horn did not deter the man, Hidalgo said.