Angels
Revive Memory Of Son
The
Sun Journal
By SHANE RIGGS
CANAL FULTON -- Denny and Vicki Moore never paid attention
to the whistles.
The blue collar
couple -- like most people -- allowed the white noise of
a train to be drowned out by other more important sounds.
They had stopped hearing the roar of the engine as it passed
along the tracks. They had become complacent to the scream
of the steam whistle. They simply no longer heard any sound
associated with the passing of a train.
On March 25, 1995,
all of that changed. Now, the sound of a locomotive rips
through the couple like a knife.
"We can't stand
a train whistle,"
Vicki said. "It cuts right through us. We are so sensitive
to that sound."
"Before that
day, I didn't pay attention to any of them," said Vicki's
husband, Denny. "Now I hear every one of them."
Nearly five years
ago, the Moore's son, Ryan, age 16, was killed along with
two other friends his same age-- Joshua White and Alyson
Ley.
Ryan had just received
his temporary driver's permit that day.
"What I remember
about that day was looking for Ryan's birth certificate that
morning so he could get his license and getting his death
certificate that night," said Vicki.
The three lives
were taken when Ryan, his brother, and four of their friends
were hit by a Conrail train as they crossed tracks on Deerfield
Ave. which were not equipped with warning lights and signals.
Ryan was in the
back seat with Joshua and Alyson. His older brother, Jason,
was driving and had even slowed up to cross the unmarked
tracks. The front of the car had cleared the tracks. The
train struck the rear. Three passengers in the front -- Jason,
Joshua's younger sister Rebecca and Jennifer Helms -- sustained
injuries-- many of them serious-- but survived. The three
who were killed instantly were in the backseat.
That crossing had
been the site of eight deaths since 1975. The last fatal
accident before the crash that took the life of the three
motoring friends had only been two months prior.
After a successful
lawsuit against Conrail, the Moores used the settlement to
found The Angels on Track Foundation.
"We didn't
sue for money,"
Vicki said. "We never wanted the money. Once we saw the
crossing, we knew what we wanted to do if we won money in the
settlement. We wanted to correct the problem. We knew what
we wanted to do from day one."
With all the proceeds
from a $7 million settlement -- less attorney, court, legal
fees and taxes-- the Moores began the first local foundation
dedicated to railroad safety.
"We started
the foundation with the money," Denny said. "We
didn't want to have a personal gain from our son's death.
We wanted to make a difference."
Vicki Moore did
not take much stock in guardian angels before the death of
her son. She had a much harder time believing such creatures
existed in the aftermath of the crash. But when trying to
determine a name for the foundation she and her husband wanted
to create, she had a dream.
"We were trying
to figure out a name for the foundation and there were three
kids involved so we wanted something that could include all
the victims," said Vicki. "I woke up about two
or three in the morning and wrote down this name -- Angels
on the Tracks. Once people found out the name of the foundation,
people started sending us angels."
The Moore home is
now adorned with them. Every room contains one. Vicki has
become quite fond of them. A frame with a silver and gold
winged heavenly being contains the last photograph taken
of their son at home.
The Moores -- who
do not see themselves as crusaders -- did not stop with the
foundation.
"We heard about
a task force being set up in Wayne County. We weren't invited,
we just went," said Vicki.
The Moores were
instrumental in helping found a railroad safety task force
in that county as well as one in Stark County in which Stark
County Commissioner Donald Watkins now chairs.
The Moores say their
goal is to establish a railroad safety task force in the
80 counties in Ohio that have functional rails. They have
testified before Congress and have met with other families
who have been victimized by car-train collisions to lend
their support.
"It's a bond
we didn't ask for but we have a bond with these people," said
Denny.
In November, the
Moore's foundation hosted a consortium in Belden Village
of similar foundations and safety organizations in the nation
and a national chapter -- The National Railroad Safety Coalition--
was developed.
The couple is determined
to make railroad safety its priority. The foundation is established
today to provide local reimbursement grants for railway improvements.
Currently, the foundation is considering its fifth benefactor
in two years since the foundation's inception -- a request
from Jackson Township to have lights and signals installed
at the railroad crossing at Forty Corners. The foundation
can supply anywhere from 15 to 35 percent of a total project
cost.
"People are
dying because the county can't afford it," said Vicki. "Because
local government can't afford it. That's not right."
The average cost
for installation of a crossing gate is anywhere from $90,000
to $200,000. While the railroad can consider a 10-percent
voluntary contribution, other funding is supplied by the
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The majority of the
money however is the responsibility of the local highway
department where the crossing is located.
Ohio ranks as the
sixth worst state in the nation for railroad crossing accidents.
Among counties, Stark County is ranked first in auto to train
collisions.
Before it was repaired
-- eight months after their son's death -- the Deerfield
Crossing was reportedly ranked the most dangerous unmarked
crossing in the state. It had been earmarked for a crossing
in November, 1994-- four months before the fatal collision
and yet the improvements were not done, reportedly because
of local funding problems.
While the couple
has increased awareness about the need for more gates and
warnings at railway crossings, the Moores' toughest battle
could be forthcoming. They are awaiting news from the Internal
Revenue Service that could ultimately take half of the foundation's
money because the settlement check that was written which
started the foundation was written personally to Denny.
"We've been
waiting for over a year on that," said Vicki. "There's
a lot of red tape."
Vicki and Denny
feel the mission of the foundation will never be complete.
"Laws have
to change. Equipment has to change. The railroad industry
has to change," said Vicki. "I don't enjoy this.
But I don't think in my lifetime, I'll ever see that change.
But this is the time for the change."
Vicki, who speaks
with a fire in her eyes when she talks about the needed improvements
at railroad crossings, said she and her husband are only
instruments for potential change.
"Denny and
I aren't doing anything. The kids who were in the car that
day did this," she said.
"I have done nothing. I want people who think of the foundation
to remember Ryan and know he would be here today if there had
been gates and lights at that crossing. In my mind, the people
responsible for that crossing chose to do nothing. But we chose
to do something."
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