Girl on Foot Killed at Dangerous Railroad Crossing
By Danielle Briones
Published on July 22, 2005
Stormy Christensen was trying to beat the train Tuesday about 5:20 p.m.
Witnesses say she was alive when paramedics arrived and tried to resuscitate her and later died at the scene.
Lorelei Chavez works at a grocery store near the crossing. She said she heard honking cars and someone yelling at Stormy and another girl not to cross. The second girl was not injured.
Children who attended Hudson Elementary School with Stormy gathered quietly near the tracks, not believing what happened.
"This doesn't happen very often. It's just hard to believe," said Jesse Florez, 13, who went to school with the victim's brother.
It's common for children to walk across the track, because it's the only way to and from school, according to town residents.
"All the time we see them (cross)," said Judy Baumgartner, 53. She said she sees children who are impatient when a train is passing and "don't want to wait, although they're supposed to."
One resident, whose home is in front of the tracks where the accident occurred, said the whole neighborhood screams whenever children attempt to cross.
"There's no other way out of Hudson except for this crossing," said Linda Gerstner.
Gerstner's husband, Ted, said he's pleaded with town officials to build another crossing, but to no avail.
"It's not a safe crossing," he said.
"As soon as it happened I ran over there. And when I got there, I knew there was nothing I could do about it," he said.
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