5-Year-Old Girl Died at Fenton Railroad Crossing 16 Years Ago

The people in Holly, Fenton and points west toward Argentine Township live in communities cut in half by the railroad tracks. From the time my boys were old enough to walk, I taught them the dangers of playing on the tracks and fast-moving trains.

"When you play a game with a train, who wins?" I often asked them. "The TRAIN!" they would shout back. "Okay, good!"

When I started work as a reporter in 1995, I covered my share of vehicle-train accidents in the tri-county area. They were all horrific and lives were lost. The most memorable fatality, however, took place 16 years ago today on March 21, 1996. I remember it because the young victim, Taylor Ann Malone of Byron, was only 5 years old, the same age as my son, Sean, at the time.

My coworker and I flew out of the office shortly after arriving to work that morning. We heard on the scanner that a car-train accident had just occurred at the Ann Street crossing in Fenton. We arrived minutes later. The fire department was already there and Taylor Ann had already been transported from the scene to the hospital. One of the firefighters told us to stay back, but as soon as his head was turned, we ran closer to the scene, cameras in hand, and started snapping photos. By then the police and more fire trucks had arrived.

That March 21, 1996 was not as nice outside as it is today. It was among the worst cold winter-like days and my coworker and I were freezing! It had snowed the night before and many of the side roads, including Ann Street, were ice-covered. I know because I had on black street shoes, and while running on the street to get closer to the scene, I slipped on the ice and fell backwards onto the ground. I also had the pictures to prove it.

Sadly, Taylor Ann died the next day. I thought about her at least once or twice a year every after that (and still do) - especially when my son reached a major milestone in his life such as leaving elementary school for middle school, and from middle school to high school - getting his first car, dating his first girlfriend, working his first job, graduating from high school - life's events as they march on. Like Sean, Taylor Ann would have been 22 years old this year and I sometimes wonder what kind of woman she would have been.

A short time after the accident, I happened to be talking with a good contact with the Railway Division of the Michigan Department of Transportation. He was a nice man and we chatted from time to time about work, family or whatever. One day he said he wondered why the city of Fenton never took advantage of their offer to upgrade the railroad crossings at Lemen and Lincoln (I believe Beach, too), in exchange for closing the Ann Street crossing to traffic.

What I learned was that the deadline to accept the offer was just over a week away. As a result, I wrote an article about it, and to make a long story short, the was not aware of the offer. The city manager at the time failed to present it to them. I won't go into all of the controversy and details here, but the crossing was eventually closed and the others upgraded to include the crossing arms and all the bells and whistles. I don't remember if or when we had another car-train fatality in Fenton after that. I don't think so!

Why am I telling you this story? Because the weather outside is not as frightful as it was 16 years ago today - it's beautiful and as a result, kids are out playing, they're on their bikes and may be too focused on playing with their friends than paying attention to a passing train. And teenagers, they have the windows rolled down, playing loud music, talking with their passengers, on their cell phones, or heaven forbid, texting.

Parents, please have another serious chat with your children about trains and the railroad crossings! It could save their lives and the lives of others.

Read more about Vera Hogan's thoughts a the Fenton Get Real Blog.