Aloysius A. Russell, 27, brakeman, saved William W. Mattson, 2, from being killed by a train, Suplee, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1955. William wandered onto a track on which a freight train was approaching at a speed of 30 m.p.h. The engineer saw him and applied emergency brakes. William stepped from the track and walked along the ties six inches from one rail. Climbing from the cab, Russell ran 35 feet along a catwalk to the front of the locomotive when the train, traveling at a speed of 18 m.p.h., was 50 feet from William. Descending steps at the side of the front platform, Russell swung himself around the lower end of a vertical handrail and stepped onto a foot boat 10 inches above the track. He leaned forward and with one hand knocked William clear of the track. Russell’s feet slipped, and he lost his hold on the handrail and fell headfirst to the track bed, barely clearing the train as he rolled 20 feet into a ditch. The train stopped 350 feet beyond them. William sustained only minor bruises. Russell, who suffered a fractured toe and abrasions of the face, arm, and legs, was disabled eight weeks. 43490-3992
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43490-3992