This came off a newswire recently. I missed the local Orange County Register coverage of it. Since I live in the area my family visits Knott's Berry Farm frequently. I was just there saturday and rode behind the 41 so I guess the accident investigation is over and the service continues.
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Accident at Knott's Berry Farm injures employee
(Saturday, January 27, 2001) - At Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, an employee was seriously injured on the Calico Railroad ride when he somehow got trapped underneath the cowcatcher of the locomotive. The accident is reported to have happened just as the train was beginning its course.
The victim, who was working as the train's conductor, was freed by firefighters who used the Jaws of Life to lift the train off of him. He was then airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange, California where he was hospitalized with multiple fractures to one leg, and a fractured foot on his other leg. While his injuries are serious, a hospital spokeswoman says they are not life-threatening, and that the man is not in danger of losing a leg.
In 1996, a 56-year-old man was killed while working as the conductor of the Calico Railroad. He was crushed to death while trying to separate two of the ride's steam-engine train cars.
The Calico Railroad is now closed, pending an investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health."
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