By Neil Farrell

A Cal Poly student was hit and killed by a train Feb. 16; marking the third death and the fourth train vs. pedestrian collision in SLO County in just over a month.
San Luis Obispo Police Lt. John Bledsoe said that at about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, police and the fire department were dispatched to the intersection of Foothill and California Boulevards for a report of a train vs. pedestrian collision.
“When they arrived they found an unconscious and unresponsive man lying near the railroad tracks on Foothill,” Lt. Bledsoe said an initial news release. “First responders immediately began life saving efforts at the scene before he was transported to a local hospital. Shortly after arriving at the hospital the man was pronounced deceased.”
The man was identified as Thomas Tilton Stone, 22 of Vallejo, Calif. Stone was a senior business major at Cal Poly. Inattentiveness appears to have been his downfall.
“According to some witnesses who have come forward,” Lt. Bledsoe said, “it is believed Stone was wearing ear buds and looking down at his cell phone as he walked into the path of the northbound train. Stone did not respond to the crossing arms or the train’s horn prior to the collision.”
The engineer reportedly felt a bump and braked the train, which came to a stop about 75 yards past the crossing. A backpack was seen in TV reports being picked up from the front of the train by a Sheriff’s Deputy.
With the department at a loss to explain or prevent such accidents, Lt. Bledsoe told the SLO City News that he’d also seen broadcast footage of a group of five or six students running to beat the train at the crossing after the resumption of service.
After the accident, the train was backed up to the SLO Depot where a new crew took over. It resumed its journey about 2 hours later. Traffic at the busy intersection piled up for several blocks on Foothill but quickly cleared once the scene was reopened.
Police believe Stone’s death was an accident, as opposed to foul play or suicide. “Based on statements and evidence located at the scene,” Lt. Bledsoe said, “there is nothing to indicate this was an intentional act or suspicious in nature.”
The accident was eerily similar to a July 2010 accident along the same stretch of track in which a passenger train killed a 17-year-old male as he walked on an unsanctioned path parallel to the tracks. Then SLOPD Capt. Ian Parkinson, now Sherriff Parkinson, told the SLO City News that the teen had been walking with ear buds in and that friends of the victim tried to warn him of the oncoming train.
In the Feb. 16 accident the Amtrak train was northbound through the Cal Poly area, and Stone apparently attempted to cross near the actual Foothill Boulevard crossing, well clear of the barrier since installed to deter people from crossing the tracks outside controlled zones. The City had also put in a linear pathway and bike trail following the tracks to increase safety.
“It’s eye-opening, to realize how many risks people will take,” added Lt. Bledsoe, “I’m not sure how many more signs or warning we could give. All of those are in place. Hopefully we can resolve the issues somehow, whatever causes the accidents.”

The accident was the third train death in SLO in just over a month. On Jan. 4, a local transient woman, Saralee Lua, 54, was struck by an Amtrak train at about 8:40 p.m. on tracks near the end of Industrial Way. The official cause of her death, after an autopsy was performed, was determined to be “exsanguination from blunt force trauma injuries.” Toxicology results have not been released by the Coroner’s Office.
On Jan. 9, another man, Aaron Matthew Wolfe, 19, was hit and killed by a train east of Sweet Bay Lane. The Sheriff’s Office concluded his death was a probable suicide but the Coroner’s Office has not issued a final ruling in the case.
But a Pismo Beach woman who was also recently hit by a train somehow survived. Alena Gribanova, 22, was walking on the tracks near the 300 block of Bello St. and pushing a bicycle shortly after 8 p.m. on Feb. 3. Officers responded to the area and located Gribanova lying approximately 25-feet off the tracks and east of a trestle bridge alert. She was conscious.
“We expect a full recovery without a problem,” said Pismo Beach Cmdr. Shawn Singleton. According to reports, Gribanova said that she had heard the train’s whistle and started running in an attempt to get off the tracks. The train was unable to completely stop before striking her and her bicycle.
Singleton cautions that walking on the tracks is trespassing, and people should avoid walking on train tracks in general, and it is never safe to cross trestle bridges.
“Speaking generally [train versus pedestrian accidents] are typically fatal,” Singleton said. “We have had survivors of these incidents in the past, but it is usually major injuries or death when you get hit by a train.”

Editor’s Note: Coast News Managing Editor, Theresa-Marie Wilson, and SLO City News Section Editor, Camas Frank contributed to this report.