W. Ronald Tolley, 22, electrical operator trainee, saved Geoffrey T. Kail, 5, from being killed by a train, London, Ontario, November 8, 1955. Geoffrey and another boy wandered 300 feet onto a single-track railroad bridge 25 feet above the ground. Tolley saw the boys and, after calling to them to get off, climbed an embankment to the bridge, where he then saw a train approaching from the opposite direction at a speed of 30 m.p.h. When the train was 800 feet from the boys, the engineman began to apply the emergency brakes; but the train did not decelerate until it had traveled 400 feet farther. Calling to the boys to get off the track, Tolley ran 300 feet to Geoffrey, who had remained on the track while the other boy moved to the side of the bridge. Tolley reached Geoffrey when the train was 40 feet away and then traveling at a speed of 20 m.p.h. Tolley grasped Geoffrey and stepped over the rail, turning his back to the train, which was then 10 feet away. Moving 15 feet to the nearest supporting pier, Tolley held Geoffrey against the rail guard as the train passed within three feet of them while traveling at a speed of 20 m.p.h. and halted 300 feet beyond them. The trainmen helped Tolley remove both boys from the bridge. Geoffrey was uninjured. Tolley was tired and winded but recovered. 43718-4049
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