Man trapped under rail car; flown to Inova Fairfax

By Elisa Glushefski

Published: March 18, 2008

A man was seriously injured after being trapped under a rail car at the end of Rail Line Court in Gainesville late Tuesday morning.

Workers were unloading gravel from the open-top rail car when the gravel shifted, causing the rail car to tip over onto the man at about 11:30 a.m., said Kim Hylander, spokeswoman for the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue.

Rescuers were able to get the man out around 12:11 p.m., Hylander said. He was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Authorities said the man, described as in his 30s, worked for Chemung Contracting Corporation, which has a plant on Rail Line Court.

A spokesman for Norfolk Southern, which owns the rail line where the accident occurred, said Chemung Contracting was operating the train.

Phone calls to the Chemung's plant Tuesday afternoon were not answered.

Because the accident happened on a railroad, it is out of the jurisdiction of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program, a division of the Virginia Department of Labor, said Jennifer Wester, an agency spokeswoman.

Wester said the case was referred to Norfolk Southern's police department.

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062.