Heroic UTU Member awarded
top honor by Norfolk Southern

CLEVELAND -- Robert Mohr, a conductor and member of UTU Local 206 in Peru, Ind., was recently awarded Norfolk Southern’s (NS) prestigious Thoroughbred Award for his heroic actions in saving the life of a toddler last month who was lying in the path of his train.

Also receiving the Thoroughbred Award was Mohr’s partner in the cab, engineer Rod Lindley, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE).

The award, the highest honor given to NS employees, was presented to each crew member by an NS official during a luncheon hosted in Norfolk, Va.

"Fortunately, this was not a typical, daily situation for rail workers to face," noted UTU International President Charles L. Little, "but the cool-headed actions exhibited by this pair of professionals in the face of a stressful, life-threatening situation is certainly typical of the teamwork and performance you can expect from UTU and BLE members who work together closely on a daily basis."

Mohr and Lindley, on their way through LaFayette, Ind., spotted what they initially thought was a dog in the right-of-way as their 96-car train, traveling at about 24 mph, was still about a city block away.

At the sound of the train’s whistle, the 19-month-old child raised her head, and the two realized they were headed toward a baby on the tracks.

As Lindley hit the brakes, Mohr dashed out the door of the cab, racing along the ledge of the locomotive to the front of the engine. Realizing there was no time to jump ahead of the train and grab the toddler, he went down a set of steps, squatting at the bottom and hanging on.

As the train slowed to 10 mph, the child rolled off the rail to the outside of the roadbed, but was still in danger of being hit by the engine. Mohr stretched out one leg to kick her out of the way, then jumped off the train and ran to the child, cradling her in his arms.

"I don’t even remember going out the door and down the steps," said Mohr, a 48-year-old father of four children. "I don’t even remember the engineer blowing the whistle. Everything was on that baby."

"I did what anybody would have done," he said.

The child, Emily Marshall, who had wandered away from her nearby home as her mother was gardening, suffered a cut on her head, some broken teeth, and a swollen lip.