BRIGHTON, Colo. — Investigators say the death of a woman photographing Union Pacific steam locomotive No. 844 July 21 suggests the woman was more focused on her cellphone screen than the approaching train. In an interview, the woman’s husband agrees with that assessment, saying that he would not want the accident to deter steam excursions.
The 15-page report by the Adams County, Colo., Sheriff’s Department, draws no conclusions on why Kelly Michelle Yarish chose to stand on the “tie section” of the tracks. The sheriff’s office, lead agency in the investigation, released the report late Friday in response to a public-records request filed by Trains News Wire.
No. 844 was on its only excursion of the year leading the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Special on the return trip to Denver when it entered the community of Henderson, Colo., shortly before 7:45 p.m. When it crossed East 124th Avenue at an estimated at or above 50 mph, a video shows two people “hanging out of the left side of the cab” apparently looking at something on the track ahead, a deputy writes in the report.
Investigators determined Yarish was photographing with her cellphone on the east side of the tracks when a couple and their 13-year-son on the west side saw her. “She looked to be focused on her phone, pointed at the train,” according to the report.
Yarish, 56, died instantly from traumatic injuries. Videos of the moments before the collision, and one of the collision itself, were collected from witnesses on both sides of the track, a drone operator, and a security camera at a nearby business.
“After reviewing all of the video footage as well as speaking to the witnesses and train crew, it does not appear as if the incident was criminal in any way,” an investigator writes. “There is also no evidence that would suggest Kelly Yarish was suicidal in any way.
“At this time all of the evidence is suggesting that this incident occurred as the result of an accident.”
The woman’s husband, Steve Yarish, tells Trains News Wire his wife was familiar with the site because both had worked at a fertilizer company with on operations on each side of the railroad.
“We met there,” Yarish, who was in sales, says. “She worked in the accounting office across the tracks as a summer job when she was going to college.”
Kelly would tell friends she won him over with her chocolate chip cookies. They married on Christmas Eve 1986, and lived outside Brighton, a 10-mile drive from Henderson.
Steve rode the Cheyenne special several years ago, and together with Kelly took trips on several of Colorado’s famous tourist trains: Durango & Silverton, Georgetown Loop, and Leadville, Colorado & Southern railroads. While Steve Yarish says neither would be considered a railfan, Kelly had taken a photography class and posted images every day or two on social media.
“She said, ‘The train is cool. I’ll try and go get a picture of that,'” Yarish continues. He recalls he decided not to go, having seen the 844 perhaps 100 times during his 36 years with the fertilizer company.
“I think she got camera dumb and didn’t realize how close she was standing,” he says.
Yarish says Kelly will be remembered as a dedicated community volunteer serving on the board of a charter school, co-founding the Rocky Mountain Beagle Club and taking on various roles as a member of the Brighton Breakfast Lions Club. In addition to her husband, her son and daughter-in-law survive her
UP did not comment on the incident beyond saying the company is conducting an internal review typical of any pedestrian injury or fatality.
“It’s not anything we do differently because the steam locomotive is involved,” Kristen South, UP director of media relations for Colorado, says. Whether the review leads to changes in the steam program or how UP handles safety education along its routes remains to be seen, she adds.
“It’s way too early to talk about that,” South says. “Right now we’re looking at 2019 and getting the Big Boy running.”
The Big Boy would be No. 4014, the massive 4-8-8-4 being restored in the Cheyenne shops. In addition to the 844, a 4-8-4, UP also has 4-6-6-4 Challenger No. 3985 in its stable, although it is not operational now.
Yarish, the son of a career switchman with Colorado & Southern and successor Burlington Northern, says his father first exposed him to the cab of an operating steam locomotive in Denver’s Rice Yard. He adds he hopes no one uses the death of his wife to argue against steam excursions.
“It’s a part of American life that people enjoy, and for this to be used to put a bad vibe on excursions trains, I definitely don’t want that to happen,” he adds. “People enjoy it.
“If legislation came out that no, we’re going to stop excursion trains, that would make me unhappy.”
Way too many people get way too fascinated by choo-choos to pay attention to where it is and where they are. Way too many people get too lazy to walk around the tracks or think they can beat the train. Way too many people try to beat the train at grade crossings or drive around the arms or past the red lights. And all the horns, whistles and lights do no good. And as long as this goes on way too many people will be scraped up and put in little boxes in the ground. And many people will nod and agree with an Operation Lifesaver talk and go out and do exactly what they are told is very dangerous. But boy all those electric gizmos (none of which I have) can sure be fun. And if you have a model railroad you can set up a camera linked to your work computer and use your smartphone to run your trains during lunch break at work.
Its amazing how people’s lives are wrapped up in their phones these days.I was sitting in my breakroom the other day ready Classic Plant & Machinery & lookked around & peoples faces are buried in their phones.How could she not hear that 844 bearing down on her?
Thirty feet away and higher in elevation, WILLIAM posts. I might add a bit from my own experience or call it my own choices in this life and in this game of train watching. Watch trains like you aren’t a railfan. I spent last Friday watching trains and no one would have known me as a train watcher. Sitting on the grass under a shade tree, reading a book. Having lunch on a sidewalk café. Going out for a walk. Just happening to look up when a train came by, as anyone else might given the noise and disruption. Do what everyone else in the neighborhood (shoppers, residents, schoolkids during the school year) does – stay back, respect railroad property lines, don’t cheat the grade crossing signals, and be aware of surroundings (trains and motor vehicles).
Nuclear industry Ms. Harding? Now that sounds interesting indeed.
But please be careful, life could be very awkward for you if you start glowing in the dark.
On the other hand, you could have a LOT of fun in abandoned houses, old cemeteries, Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields, the list is endless!
Thirty(30) feet from the right-of-way and elevated , you’ll capture everything. Further away is better.
I can’t imagine what Mr. Yarish is going through. In his situation, it must take a lot of strength to be vocally supportive of future steam excursions, good on him.
As for UP, great to read that they’re still focused on 4014 and the celebration next year. Hopefully whatever “changes” occur as a result of this don’t result in less steam.
Charles, let Gary Caramella be. He has the right to speak his mind. I suspect he just doesn’t like attorneys. I don’t blame him…when you swim in the sewer as I do you can be astounded by the behaviour of some of the other rats.
In my trade I have to have a thick skin. His remark may be an ad hominem attack but it does not rise to the level of libel. Let him be.
The above remarks are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Go find your own damn lawyer.
JAMES _ Anna puts that garbage at the bottom of all her posts and it irritates the fat out of my fat rear end. Other than that her posts make as much sense as anyone else’s.
Anna. You were doing great until the last two sentences. The you went BSC.
GARY _ I am shocked beyond belief at your post. What in God’s name is wrong with you?
Ah, Ms. Harding, I take it you’re an “enforcer,” and one of ethical and professional standards! Excellent! and good for you!
I’ll not ask any more, somehow I get the impression if you told me everything you’d have to kill me!
Keep commenting, I enjoy your posts!
I do regret that in my comment I failed to mention the passing of Mrs. Yarish. May her family find comfort in the concern of total strangers. And may we all show respect for her by not only being concerned for ourselves but also watching out for others who may be making the same mistake.
Anna Harding you are a b***h. Trains should block your moronic posts.
Mister Antoniazzi:
I am not a prosecuting attorney. I work in a highly regulated and closely watched industry and my job is to make sure other people in this industry are doing their jobs.
It gets ugly when people try to cut corners. What we play with has no forgiveness whatsoever, and any kind of mistake can lead to, as the prevailing standard puts it, “…grave social or economic consequences.”. However it can be expensive to do things in accordance with the regulations and then, to borrow a line, “…even in the City of Angels from time to time a few halos slip…”.
I do not like having to drop a bomb on anyone. But if I feel that no other corrective action is possible (and I do try to avoid doing so, if the client is at all cooperative) I will do so. And then…we all go to talk with the Man in the Black Robe.
I am not available for private consultation. I work for whom I work for and do not accept outside solicitations.
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Go find your own damn lawyer.
Ms. Harding, you are a treasure. I don’t know what kind of law you practice, but if I ever need a lawyer you may just be the first one I call!
“Swimming in the sewer…” I suspect you’re a prosecuting attorney. You’ve probably seen enough “sewage” to make the blood run cold in the rest of us.
Mister McWilliams:
While I thank you for your defence it is not necessary. The ad hominem attack speaks for itself, and by making it the author stands revealed as to what he is. Let all who read it draw the necessary conclusion.
Mrs. Yarish did something stupid and paid for it with her life. This is frequently the way of it when you do not pay attention to what you are doing and where you are doing it and it is happening with machinery handling large amounts of energy. There is no doubt it is a tragedy, there is no doubt it could have been avoided.
Mr. Yarish recognizes it was an accident and appears to be calling it as such. I stand by my statement – he is a gentleman. I have encountered a great many other people who would lash out at any available target in their grief, and to his great credit he is not doing so. He is in fact a gentleman.
My deepest condolences to Mr. Yarish and all his family in this tragic event.
But let us all learn from this tragedy. Trains are not toys. They are large, dangerous machines and must be shown the respect you should show any kind of machinery. Let us all pray that this is the last time such an event occurs.
As for Mr. Yarish and his family, they will be dealing this this for some time to come. To borrow a phrase from the Turkish, “Gecmis olsun” – may it pass quickly. For them I am truly sorry.
The above remarks are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Go find your own damn lawyer.
I cant help but think that a lot of frustration in this world is brought about by lawyers. In my business we operate large trucks, and it makes me sick to see lawyer billboards advertising quick cash if involved in an accident. Law makers, who are all lawyers, make myriads of confusing laws so that their buddies, practicing lawyers, have got plenty of ammo to find something the truck operator done wrong to lay the blame at their feet. “You forgot to have a safety meeting the second week of February three years ago, so you are obviously the one to blame when my dear client was drunk and pulled out in front of you”
All that being said, personal attacks on Ms. Harding are rude and uncalled for.
While nobody deserves to perish in this way, I have seen the video of her death, and it is unquestionable that she lacked both caution and situational awareness. Trains – even steam trains – are not toys (I have loved them since I was a child, yet after years of railfanning, the thrill of watching a consist scream by is coupled with a healthy amount of unadulterated terror), and yet she was acting as if there was no risk whatsoever.
Mister Yarish. Sir, you are a gentleman.
Although I hate to say this is what happens when you lose situational awareness, this is in fact what happens when you lose situational awareness.
My condolences for your loss, and may others take note and not do the same things.
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Go find your own damn lawyer.