From yesterday's Omaha World-Hearld online edition:

[www.omaha.com]

Conductor wins verdict against U.P.
By Joe Ruff
World-Herald Staff Writer


A Denver-area conductor has won a $2.8 million jury verdict against Union Pacific Railroad, arguing that he had suffered brain injuries when the locomotive he was parking by remote control in a rail yard ran over two explosive devices improperly placed on the rails.

Joe Pasionek's injuries occurred from the concussive blast wave as he guided the locomotive while riding on its rear bottom step Feb. 4, 2005, his attorney said.

Pasionek contended that a “railroad torpedo” collection program that Union Pacific began in 2002 was conducted negligently and that the devices were not secured against misuse. After an eight-day trial, the jury returned its verdict July 29.

Railroad torpedoes were small explosive devices invented in the 1800s. For decades, rail crews would place them on tracks to help warn oncoming trains to slow down or stop in an emergency. More modern communication methods have made the devices essentially obsolete.

The devices may have been placed on the track by unknown employees as a practical joke for the yardmaster who worked in a building nearby and had just returned from a vacation, said Martin E. Jackson, the Conifer, Colo., attorney who represented Pasionek.

Union Pacific officials said they planned to appeal but could not comment further on pending litigation.

Pasionek, 52, of Rollinsville, Colo., was a 28-year employee at Union Pacific when he was injured. He cannot work because he continues to suffer headaches, and he has cognitive and balance problems, Jackson said.