Railroad blames derailment on Waterloo man killed by train and farm that employed him

A railroad company is blaming a 23-year-old Waterloo man who was hit and killed by a train, as well as the farm that employed him, for a derailment in Monroe County four years ago.

Union Pacific Railroad Co. filed a federal civil lawsuit against Glendell H Farms in August. It argues that the farm’s owners are responsible for damages to its locomotives, railcars, signals and tracks due to the actions of their hired hand, the late Jonah Matthews.

Matthews was talking on a cellphone at the time of the crash and failed to reduce the speed of his tractor or look out for trains, according to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis.

“Union Pacific prays for judgment against Defendants in an amount in excess of $3,636,000, and for whatever other relief the Court deems just,” it states.

David A. Nester, a St. Louis attorney who represents Glendell owners Kenneth Hartman Jr., Anita Hartman and Joann Hartman, filed an answer in September. It denies many of the complaint’s allegations.

“We think (the derailment occurred) because of the way they loaded the cars,” Nester said Friday, noting that one engine and about 10 railcars left the tracks after the train hit Matthews.

It’s the second civil lawsuit filed over the crash, which occurred on June 14, 2019, in a farm field southwest of Fults.