[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 68 (Thursday, May 17, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E849-E850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            RAILROAD HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2001

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents in the Fourth 
Congressional District, I want to honor the heroes who stopped the 
runaway train in northwestern Ohio on Tuesday.
  The entire nation saw the courage of Jon Hosfeld, Jess Knowlton, and 
Terry Forson as they slowed and then stopped a 47-car train whose cargo 
included a dangerous chemical. This train, which got loose near Toledo, 
traveled unmanned through communities at speeds approaching 46 miles an 
hour.
  The television images of how the train was finally stopped riveted a 
nation. Knowlton and Forson maneuvered a second locomotive and coupled 
up with the runaway train, bringing it down to a speed that allowed Jon 
Hosfeld to leap on and finally bring this drama to an end.
  Jumping onto a moving train is something you only see in the movies. 
But we witnessed every bit of the trainmaster's 31 years of experience 
with CSX as he surmounted the risk. Amazingly, what we later learned is 
that Hosfeld, who lives in my hometown of Findlay, had been in a car 
pursuing the train nearly from the start. Jon Hosfeld's moment to be a 
hero had arrived.

[[Page E850]]

  I salute Jon Hosfeld, Jess Knowlton, Terry Forson and the other 
skilled railroad workers who responded so nobly and professionally. 
Thanks to them, what could have been a disaster was averted. I also 
commend the law enforcement and emergency management teams along the 
line who secured rail crossings and kept citizens away from harm.
  While it appears that this incident began as a result of a human 
error--an error, it seems now, the first engineer tried to correct by 
vainly trying to climb onto a moving train--what we saw unfold during a 
dramatic afternoon in Ohio was a testament to professional skill and 
personal courage. Jon Hosfeld, the feat that you and your colleagues 
performed will go down in railroad lore.

                          ____________________