A Waterloo man was killed by a train. His family is suing the railroad and a local farm.
.jpg "An Illinois State Police photo, right, shows the railroad crossing where Jonah Matthews was fatally struck by a train on June 14, 2019.")
The family of a 23-year-old Waterloo man who was fatally struck by a train while working on a farm near Fults in 2019 has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against his employers and the railroad.
Attorneys for David Matthews, father of the late Jonah Matthews, filed the lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court last week. It alleges safety issues related to the railroad crossing and farm practices and asks for damages in excess of $50,000 for each of five counts.
That’s the maximum amount that can be sought in filings under jurisdictional limits and is less than what attorneys will argue the family is due, according to Troy Walton, of the Walton Telken law firm in Edwardsville.
“What we’re going to ask is for the family to be fairly and reasonably compensated for the very tragic and avoidable loss of their son and brother, as determined by a jury of their peers,” he said.
Jonah Matthews is survived by his father, mother Debra and five brothers, Josh, Jacob, Jeremiah, Jesse and Jordan.
The family operates Deer Creek Farm in rural Monroe County, and Jonah raised his own cattle. But on June 14, 2019, the day of the accident, he was working for Waterloo-based Glendell H. Farms.
Jonah Matthews was helping Glendell’s owners replant corn after flooding ruined their original crop, his father told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the time. He was driving a tractor when he approached a double-track railroad crossing with one train going north and another going south.
“(Jonah) stopped for the first one and didn’t see the second one,” his father was quoted as saying.
The accident occurred about 8 p.m. on a Friday. Jonah Matthews was pronounced dead at the scene by Monroe County Coroner Bob Hill.
Neither Glendell’s owners nor the Matthewses could be reached this week. Elizabeth Graham, Texas-based spokeswoman for Union Pacific Railroad Co., declined to comment, except to email the following statement:
“Union Pacific was recently served with the lawsuit, and we are evaluating the claims. We will respond to the allegations formally throughout the course of the litigation.”
Family farmers on both sides
The Matthews lawsuit names as defendants Glendell H. Farms and its owners, Kenneth, Anita and Joann Hartman, whose farm field southwest of Fults was accessed by a private road that originated at Main Street and Fults Road and crossed the railroad tracks about 115 feet to the west.
Also named as defendants are Union Pacific Railroad Co. and Union Pacific Corp., which owned the tracks and controlled the crossing.
The lawsuit states that:
- About 40 trains were going through the crossing each day, traveling up to 70 miles per hour.
- The “uncontrolled” crossing had no gates or arms that went down or signal lights that warned drivers of approaching trains.
- The crossing was significantly elevated above the surrounding terrain, and the road leading to it had a steep uphill grade.
The grade made it difficult for people traveling west to see approaching southbound trains.
Union Pacific land northeast of the crossing had overgrown vegetation that obstructed the line of sight to southbound trains.
“It would be difficult to see in a car, let alone a tractor, as you’re going up to this very elevated crossing with an obstructed view,” Walton said. “The farm knew that, and if they would have trained their employees to utilize certain techniques for crossing these tracks, this accident would have 100 percent not have happened.”
Glendell’s owners failed to meet their obligation to provide a “reasonably safe work environment,” according to the lawsuit.
‘Negligent and careless acts’
In regard to Union Pacific, the Matthews lawsuit alleges that the company committed “negligent and careless acts” when it failed to:
- Install gates, arms and/or signal lights at the railroad crossing to warn of approaching trains.
- Clear, or facilitate the clearing of, overgrown vegetation on the northeast parcel of land.
- Regrade, redesign, or otherwise maintain the private road or facilitate this action to improve line of sight.
- Maintain the crossing in a reasonably safe manner.
- Operate its train at a reasonably safe speed and/or manner when it approached the crossing.
“There’s only one reason why the railroad doesn’t install crossing arms or gates or signal lights at these crossings, and that’s money,” Walton said. “... The crossing down the road a half-mile, which is a public crossing, has gates and arms, and they could do that on private crossings as well.”
The Monroe County Emergency Management Agency and Union Pacific sent hazmat teams to the scene after Jonah Matthews’ accident on that Friday night. Some train cars had derailed, but not those toward the back carrying hazardous materials, according to media reports.
Other responders included the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and fire departments from several nearby towns.
The Illinois State Police ultimately became the investigating agency on the case.
Jonah Matthews graduated from Waterloo High School in 2014. He was a standout in Future Farmers of America, a Monroe County Farm Bureau young leader and a member of First Baptist Church in Waterloo, according to his obituary on the Quernheim Funeral Home website.
On the Monday after the accident, about 100 local residents formed circles in the family’s yard, praying, hugging and sharing stories about Jonah Matthews, according to an article in the Republic-Times in Waterloo.
His parents then spoke to the crowd.
“By what we’ve seen in the community just in three days, Jonah was well-loved,” father David Matthews was quoted as saying. “We appreciate that. We will never be able to repay or thank the community for everything that is going on. We can feel the prayers. It’s unbelievable.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
