Two UTU members, Michael Wilcox and Saxton Haselwood, have been killed in separate incidents.
Wilcox, a member of Local 113 in Winslow, Ariz., was killed Saturday night, Feb. 7, when hit by a train on BNSF trackage near Holbrook, Ariz.
Wilcox was 43 and had a wife and three children. He had been railroading about 10 years.
This guy was a good friend of mine, General Chairperson William Young III said. He was a good family man and a real good guy. But, the truly sad part was that the engineer who hit him was his best friend.
Haselwood, a member of Local 1227 in Wichita, Kan., was killed early the morning of Sunday, Feb. 8, at Union Pacifics Herrington Yard outside Herrington, Kan.
Haselwood, unmarried, was 26 and has been railroading just two years.
He was a no-trouble kid who did his job, UP General Chairperson Richard Draskovich said. He was a good worker who will be missed.
(The following appeared on the Salina Journal website on February 9, 2009.)
HERINGTON, Kan. A 26-year-old Union Pacific Railroad conductor was killed early Sunday when he was struck by a train.
Saxton L. Haselwood, Burden, was killed shortly after 3 a.m. when he was run over by a train in the Herington railyard, according to a statement released by the Herington Police Department.
The accident remains under investigation by the Herington and Union Pacific Railroad police.
Haselwood was pronounced dead at the scene, and his body was taken to Topeka for an autopsy, the statement said.
