Texico man dies in Roswell train wreck

link Courtesy photo Jesse Coburn III of Texico died in this Southwestern train wreck early Tuesday and another unidentified person was seriously injured near Roswell.

A family member has confirmed Jesse Coburn III, 48, of Texico was killed Tuesday when a freight train struck another train head-on in southeastern New Mexico. Another crew member seriously injured in the crash is also believed to be from Clovis, although officials haven't released names of other victims.

State police said the other crew member whose name wasn’t immediately released was taken to Lubbock for medical treatment and was in stable condition.

Coburn was an engineer for Southwestern Railroad, according to information on his Facebook page.

“He loved life. He laughed about everything,” said Debbie Chadwick, a close friend. “He had a very good heart, and was devoted to his kids and his friends and family. He enjoyed working for the railroad. He just had his birthday on April 21.”

Coburn loved the railroad so much, that he worked on his birthday. Chadwick said the only other thing he was just as passionate about were his two daughters, who participated in basketball and track for Farwell.

“His whole life revolved around his kids,” Chadwick said. “His daughters were everything; he did everything for them. That's all he wanted was to...watch them get older.”

Chadwick said they would laugh together, and enjoyed riding horseback and bicycles through town and going to the park.

“He found humor in everything,” Chadwick said.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Chadwick received the call from her kids.

“They just asked if I had heard about Jesse, and I said no,” she said. “They told me he had the train crash, and that was about the time his girls found out, too, when the station notified the family.”

Chadwick said she did not know details of the wreck or how he died, and had not spoken with the railroad yet.

“I just know that the area is obviously a big issue, and something desperately needs to be done about it,” she said.

The accident occurred about 6:20 a.m. on a siding — a short section of tracks alongside the main tracks — about 10 miles southeast of Roswell.

An executive of Carlsbad, New Mexico-based Southwestern Railroad's parent company said employees were moving a 79-car train that struck a parked 12-car train that was stationary on the siding and had no crew on board. The crew of the moving train applied its brakes to try to stop, but other specifics of what happened and what caused the accident weren't immediately known and would the subject of a federal investigation, said Bruce Carswell, vice president of operations of The Western Group, an Ogden, Utah-based operator of several short-line railroads.

“There was some braking,” Carswell said. “We have only very preliminary information at this point.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to investigate the accident.

The Federal Railroad Administration also had personnel at the accident, Carswell said.

The NTSB team is headed by investigator Ted Turpin and includes NTSB Board Member Earl Weener, who will act as the team's spokesman, the agency said in a statement. The agency plans to issue a preliminary report within 30 days, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said.

The crash resulted in the closure of State Route 2, also known as the Dexter Highway, but U.S. 285, a nearby larger highway, was not affected, Chaves County Sheriff Britt Snyder said.

The crash location was being treated as a hazardous materials site because of actual or potential spillage of an unknown amount of diesel fuel from the damaged locations, Armijo said. No evacuation was required, officials said.

The moving train's 79 freight cars included 27 cars loaded with sand and 52 empties, while the parked train had two cars carrying molasses and 10 empties, Carswell said. The two trains' locomotives included ones belonging to Southwestern Railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and a third company, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.