Locals save woman stuck on train tracks at Plains

Plains locals came to the aid of a woman who had her walker stuck in the railroad tracks in the nick of time, pushing her out of the way of an oncoming train last Wednesday.

Louise Paul, 81, had just finished shopping at Gambles and was walking home at about 3:30 p.m., when the front wheel of her walker got stuck between the rail in the middle of the tracks at the Willis Street crossing. “I just couldn’t get it loose,” Paul said of the wheel.

With the crossing arms down, the red lights blinking and the train oncoming, Paul said she stayed calm and continued to try to get her wheel free.

“I wasn’t scared a bit,” she said. “I was working hard and concentrating on the wheel. I didn’t have time to worry about the train.”

Jeff Doughney had just walked out of the Sinclair and was crossing Highway 200 when he heard the bells and horns of the train near the Grainry. Doughney said he then saw 9-year-old Blazz Wood cruise by on his bike with a broken arm. He said he was near the railroad crossing when he noticed Paul in her yellow raincoat stuck in the middle of the tracks. “The kid (Wood) has dumped his bike and is now running to the east end of the railroad,” said Doughney.

He said Wood tried to get the walker unstuck, but was hampered by his broken arm. “I sprinted toward them and yelled to the young man ‘kid get out of there’ because that trains coming, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye,” said Doughney. He said luckily Wood listened to him and got out of the way. Doughney said he then grabbed the walker in one hand and tossed the walker and then grabbed Paul. He said he grabbed her in a hug because he didn’t want to pull her arm out of socket or have her fall and hit her head. He then picked her up and carried her about six feet, split seconds before the train passed them.

“He saved my life,” said Paul. “I’m pretty sore, but I’m doing all right,” Paul said five days after the near-miss. She said it was a very close call. “I don’t want it to be any closer,” she said.

Doughney said after he had carried Paul away from the train, they were stuck between the crossing guards and the train, until the train came to a complete stop near Brinson’s crossing. “I just held her until the train stopped completely,” He said once the train had stopped, Paul said, “I guess God was looking out for me.”

Doughney said he doesn’t considered what he did heroic. “I’m was on auto pilot since the whole thing started. I wasn’t thinking, just reacting,” he said. “That kid’s a hero,” Doughney said, referring to Wood. The Plains third-grader was given a fishing rod from the Sinclair for his actions.

Paul said that the tracks were nearly impossible to walk through and no place a person her age should be. “But how in the world am I suppose to get around town,” she said. “I just think I should’ve been more careful and I would like it to be more safe to walk across,” she said.

Plains Mayor Michael Brinson said that Montana Rail Link has recently put in new timbers in the crossing and the clearance of the rails is what it is required to be. “It’s a better gap than what it was three weeks ago,” he said. Brinson said the town is paying $5,000 for a concrete crossing. He said the crossing should be put in by the end of this week or the start of next week.