The man who died after being hit by a freight train on the Edmonds waterfront Friday morning was 35 and last known to have lived in Mountlake Terrace, according to an update from Edmonds police spokesman Mark Marsh Friday morning.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner took custody of the body and will be notifying next of kin, Marsh said.
“The train’s brake system had been damaged during the collision, which caused an additional delay to clearing the tracks along with enabling the ferry to dock and unload its vehicular passengers,” he said, and normal operations were expected to resume shortly.
This shows what a problem coal trains blocking access to the ferry and to Edmonds Senior Center could be if we allow coal trains to run along these tracks. There would be many very long trains every day and eventually, one of them would likely break down. No emergency vehicles available to the Senior Center? To the ferry? Not a good idea.
I can’t believe there is no back up system. Coal trains are 1 1/2 miles long! Can you tell me what would happen if one of our restaurants caught on fire, a walker has a heart attack, or a diver needs medical attention?
More dangerous than coal trains are trains hauling flammable gasses. Edmonds seriously need a pedestrian overpass. At least that would solve the problem of evacuating people (the senior center) off the waterfront. As for cars on the ferry. They have to either wait or return to Kingston.