Boy sleeping on railroad tracks dies after being struck by train

Times Leader ^ | 9/2/2003 | Associated Press

[Born Conservative]

Posted on Tue, Sep. 02, 2003

Boy sleeping on railroad tracks dies after being struck by train
Associated Press

DOUGLASSVILLE, Pa. - A 12-year-old boy who fell asleep on railroad tracks died after being struck by an oncoming freight train.

Matthew D. Jacobs was killed Saturday morning by a Norfolk-Southern engine that was crossing through Amity Township in Berks County, police said. He apparently woke up as the train was approaching, but was unable to move away in time.

Jacobs and another boy, Ryan Radermacher, 15, ran away from a foster home last week and had been hitching rides on trains, officials said. His family believes that Jacobs was sleeping on the tracks so that he would be prepared to hop on a passing train.

Radermacher, 15, separated from Jacobs after their escape. He told officers who later picked him up that Jacobs was planning to visit his 21-year-old brother in Philadelphia.

"He wasn't trying to be run over," his brother, Jason, said. "He was trying to come to me."

Family members said Jacobs struggled with autism and had run away from numerous foster homes.

Jacobs' death has been ruled an accident by the Berks County coroner's office.

Information from: Reading Eagle

[Born Conservative]

Darwin award candidate?

[Agnes Heep]

My uncle got run over by a train. He's not half the man he used to be.

[Born Conservative]

Darwin Award Ping.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

A hard learned lesson in cause and effect.

[Kenton]

Darwin award candidate?

I dunno, is there any sort of age requirement? When something like this happens, I usually just take it as further evidence of God's plan to cull the breeding pool of fools.

[Graybeard58]

My Uncle was killed by a weasel. He was walking down the rail road tracks and he didn't hear the weasel.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

BORN: 1991, Untrained

DIED: 2003, Trained At Last

[mountaineer]

His family believes that Jacobs was sleeping on the tracks so that he would be prepared to hop on a passing train.

One would think sleeping beside or even just near the tracks would suffice.

[harpu]

Hmmmmm...sounds like the two young fellas who did the same back in Arkansas during the i42's then governor administration?!?

[JohnGalt]

Perhaps, like the Ives brothers, he stumbled upon a drug shipment?

[old school]

You people must really be angry this morning. I fail to see the humor in the death of a twelve-year-old, under any circumstances.

[Space Wrangler]

You know, you hear about someone falling asleep on train tracks a couple of times a year. My question: How does someone look down at two steel rails laying in a bed of gravel, and say, ya know, that looks like a comfy spot to take a nap. Who does that? Why do we hear so often about people falling asleep on train tracks?

[csvset]

You know, you hear about someone falling asleep on train tracks a couple of times a year. My question: How does someone look down at two steel rails laying in a bed of gravel, and say, ya know, that looks like a comfy spot to take a nap. Who does that? Why do we hear so often about people falling asleep on train tracks?

Indeed, a railroad track is hardly an inviting bed.

[palmer]

Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[bmwcyle]

Did he catch the Clintons doing something?

[twigs]

Thank you for a sane remark. I, too, fail to see any humor in this. What a terrible tragedy!

[Living Free in NH]

Darwin award candidate?

Possibly, but his parents will win a multi-million dollar lawsuit because the railroads don't have "Don't Sleep on the Tracks" signs posted along the tracks, along with a schedule advising when the big, fast, steel behemoths will be passing by.

[BMiles2112]

A smile from a veil?

[Agnes Heep]

His family believes that Jacobs was sleeping on the tracks so that he would be prepared to hop on a passing train.

Come on, now. You can't hop onto a train from the tracks, and even a mentally deficient individual would be wary of standing in the middle of them, much less sleeping on them. Pardon me if I'm just a bit skeptical here!