Two teens hit by train in "Quiet Zone"

By Mike Morris and Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The area near Kennesaw where two teens were hit by a train killing one and injuring another has been a designated railroad quiet zone since 2008.

However, officials say it is too early to say whether there is a connection between the designation and the accident.

A freight train hit two teenagers near Kennesaw early Friday, killing one and injuring the other, authorities said.

The two teens were apparently sitting on the tracks when they were hit around 1 a.m., according to Cobb County police spokesman Joe Hernandez.

Thomas Brewer, 18, of Kennesaw was pronounced dead at the scene.

Austin Dix, 17, of Douglasville was transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta with non-life-threatening injuries.

The area is designated a “Quiet Zone,” Gary Sease, CSX spokesman told the AJC.

According to investigators, the area of the track where the incident occurred was curved and dark and the teens were not visible to the train operators, Hernandez said.

The incident happened about 200 yards from the Stanley Road crossing off Stilesboro Road, near Mount Paran Christian School.

“Trains can be relatively quiet,” Sease said.

A railroad quiet zone is a crossing where train horns are not routinely sounded by train operators, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The designation is designed to “decrease noise level” for residents in the area.

In 2008, residents in the area formed a committee to turn Stanley Road and Mossy Rock railroad crossings into quiet zones.

“Communities across the country have crossings designated as quiet zones,” Sease said. “It requires some changing to the crossings including new signage, longer crossing arms to keep cars from driving around, and even concrete barriers.”

Investigators were interviewing Dix and the CSX train crew, trying to determine exactly what happened. CSX is also conducting an internal investigation, Sease said.