Published: January 07, 2010 10:00 am      

Man killed by train in Tunnel Hill

TUNNEL HILL —�Authorities are investigating the death of a man Wednesday afternoon after he was hit by a CSX train off Old Cotton Mill Road near the U.S. Highway 41 overpass.

Timothy Wayne Sorrows, 36, of Tunnel Hill, died of multiple trauma to his body after being struck by the train.

The incident happened at about 3:30 p.m. The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office is investigating, but Maj. John Gibson said late Wednesday afternoon no details were available.

CSX spokesman Gary Sease said the two-person crew on the train was not injured. The train originated in Chicago and was en route to Jacksonville, Fla. It had two locomotives and 36 cars.

Sease said he didn’t have details on the incident, nor did he know why the man was on the tracks.

“Unfortunately, we have a number of people struck on a yearly basis on our tracks,” he said. “We try to keep people off our tracks. It’s against the law to trespass on railroad tracks.”

While people walk on or cross tracks for a variety of reasons, Sease said many find them “convenient pathways” through the woods.

“We have also found increasing numbers of people who walk on our tracks and don’t hear trains coming up behind them because they have ear buds,” he said. “They’re listening to devices and don’t hear the approaching train. Of course, it’s difficult for trains to stop quickly. It’s a deadly combination to walk on train tracks and risk lives that way.”