Alpaugh, Calif. — Investigators are still puzzled over why a farm employee drove his tractor in front of a fertilizer train here and was killed instantly in the collision on May 11. “We still haven’t determined why he didn’t stop for the train and went over the tracks and got hit by the train,” Tulare County Sheriff’s Detective Keith Matlock told Green Markets. “We have no idea why he didn’t stop. Perhaps he didn’t see the train.” Matlock said the investigation into the death of Javier Loera, 50, is still ongoing and has been turned over to the California Highway Patrol. He said the short-line train was headed west through Alpaugh, which is just west of Highway 42, and was in the process of delivering fertilizer to a nearby mill. Loera, who works for a nearby farm operation, was approaching the railroad tracks on a John Deere tractor. For unknown reasons he failed to stop for the train and entered the railroad tracks directly in front of the oncoming train. The impact forced the tractor off the tracks and killed Loera at the scene. The conductor was identified as Ralph Celedon, 66, of Bakersfield. The West Isle Line is a private contractor-operated railroad that was taken over by Crop Production Services when it acquired Western Farm Services. The line runs for 5.25 miles from Alpaugh to a connection with the BNSF Railway at Stoil. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to Mr. Loera’s friends and family,” said Spencer Harris, CPS regional manager. “Tragically, Mr. Loera passed away as the result of an accident on May 11. The incident took place at the CPS Alpaugh retail location. CPS fully cooperated with the public safety agencies involved in the accident investigation. This has been a very difficult few weeks for all of us with CPS and the community."
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain