WASHINGTON — A CSX conductor was killed when he was crushed by the railcar he was riding during a shove move, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report released Thursday, Jan. 15. The car, part of a string being shoved onto a siding, overturned onto the conductor after it struck a cut-off car left on the main line, derailing three cars in the Dec. 13, 2025, incident near Calera, Ala.
The man killed in the incident was subsequently identified as 52-year-old Charles Harrison of Mountain Brook, Ala. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division identified him as a member of the union who had been with CSX since 2023 after previously working at Norfolk Southern [see “NTSB investigating …,” Trains.com, Dec. 13, 2025].
The accident occurred at 2:13 a.m. on CSX’s South and North Alabama South (S&NA South) Subdivision. It involved a train of two locomotives and 181 cars en route from Mobile, Ala., to Bessemer, Ala.
The NTSB says its ongoing investigation will focus on the industry’s hazard identification and mitigation strategies; CSX rules and procedures regarding leaving railcars clear of adjacent tracks; and internal and external oversight.
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