Update: Victim Killed in Tractor v. Train Collision in NEIA Identified

The person killed in a tractor-train collision in Northeast Iowa has been identified.

The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) says they received multiple calls around 2:30 pm Monday (10.07) afternoon that a tractor had been struck by a train at the intersection of Highway 24 and 128th Street, between Fort Atkinson and Jackson Junction. The deceased is 60-year-old Carl Kuhn of Fort Atkinson.

According to the WCSO crash report, the train conductor stated that Kuhn’s tractor, pulling an empty grain wagon, continued into the travel portion of the railroad tracks when Kuhn saw the train at the last second and tried to stop. While the conductor applied the brakes to stop the locomotive, it collided with the center of the tractor at about 30 mph. 

The collision caused the tractor to split at the cab/engine compartment, with Kuhn ejected through the front windshield of the cab. WCSO says the front axle and engine were found on the west side of the railroad tracks, with the cab and grain wagon landing on the east side.