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Associated Press - August 13, 2009 2:44 PM ET
CHICAGO (AP) - It's the dark side of train engineers' work that most end up hitting and killing several people over their careers, usually through no fault of their own.
Thoughts after collisions naturally turn to those killed. But the engineers' trauma is often overlooked.
Single fatalities of pedestrians and people committing suicide using trains account for most deaths. Around 500 occur each year nationally. There were 35 in Illinois in 2008, most in and around Chicago.
Metra engineer Charlie Lough (LOH) has killed four over his 18-year career, and he's haunted by the look in the eyes of those he's hit. He says engineers can take months to come to terms with a death. He says some never do.
Most railways offer counseling not only to engineers who have already stared death in the face, but to those who can be nearly certain it will happen to them one day, too.
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