WASHINGTON — A Fairfield Southern Co. employee involved in remote-control switching died from injuries suffered when he struck a railcar on an adjacent track, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the June 16, 2025, accident issued today (July 16, 2025).
During switching work at the U.S. Steel Flintridge Yard in Fairfield, Ala., at about 9:53 p.m., the employee, a footboard yardmaster, was riding the lead car in a shoving move from track 1 to track 4. During that move, the lead car passed a section of track with close clearances from railcars on the adjacent track 3; at some point, the footboard yardmaster called for the radio control operator to stop, and the operator placed the train into emergency braking. The injured employee requested medical assistance and emergency services were dispatched, but the footboard yardmaster died while being transported to a nearby hospital.
NTSB reports do not identify those involved, but a news report said Michael Dewaine Townsend, 39, died from blunt force injuries [see “NTSB to investigate rail death …,” Trains News Wire, June 17, 2025].
Fairfield Southern, which operates about 15 miles of track at the Fairfield plant, is one of seven Transtar railroads serving U.S. Steel facilities. The ongoing investigation will look at Transtar’s operating rules and switching training for employees; riding of equipment; identification of close clearances at industrial plant railroads; and the effectiveness of external oversight of nonregulated railroads at industrial plants.
Fairfield Southern, Transtar, and the United Steelworkers are parties to the investigation.
A smaller yard operation might not require a full-time YM during certain shifts (if at all). One of the switch crew (the yard conductor or engine foreman, I think) takes on the duties of deciding what needs to be done in what order for his or her crew, then participates in the execution of that plan.
I don’t know if a footboard YM can assign work for other crews working at the same time. Those of you who have actual experience in the field are more than welcome to make corrections and supply more info.
What is a footboard yardmaster? And I thought radio-controlled operations only had one person that worked them, or is the “operator” the computer control?