​This information is preliminary and subject to change. 

​On April 9, 2025, about 1:15 p.m. local time, a Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) conductor on yard job AH-01 was seriously injured while performing switching operations at NS’s Sheffield Yard in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[1] The conductor was found on the north side of track 5 at the east end of the receiving yard with severe injuries to his lower legs.[2] (See figure.) The Sheffield Yard supervisor called 911; emergency medical services arrived on the scene and airlifted the conductor to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, where he was admitted for treatment of his injuries. Visibility conditions at the time of the accident were daylight and clear; the weather was 63°F with no precipitation.

​The crew of yard job AH-01 consisted of an engineer and a conductor. At the time of the accident, the crew was using 2 locomotives to pull a cut of 55 mixed freight railcars out of track 5 of the receiving yard toward the hump lead track of Sheffield Yard.[3] The crew were preparing to switch 32 railcars at the front end of the cut of railcars onto track 4 of the receiving yard. The receiving yard had an eastward ascending grade toward the hump lead track. The engineer was in the lead locomotive and the conductor was on the ground giving instructions to the engineer through his radio. To perform the switching movement, the conductor needed to secure the 33rd railcar, which was a hopper car, by applying the hand brake located at the rear of the railcar.[4] Then, the conductor would have uncoupled the 32nd railcar from the 33rd railcar to facilitate the switching movement.[5] ​

At the time of the accident, the engineer had moved the cut of railcars about 2,600 feet east when the conductor instructed the engineer to stop. The engineer stopped at 1:14:48 p.m. At 1:15:15 p.m., the conductor called for help through his radio. The engineer as well as employees in the yard tower at Sheffield Yard heard the conductor’s call for help. Employees at Sheffield Yard found the conductor on the north side of track 5 near the hopper car, where they observed that the hand brake on the hopper car was partially applied.

While on scene, National Transportation Safety Board investigators examined the track at the accident site, inspected the hopper car and tested the hand brake on the hopper car, reviewed data from the locomotive event recorder and radio communications between the conductor and the engineer, and completed interviews.

The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on NS’s operation of Sheffield Yard, including switching procedures and oversight of employees.

Parties to the investigation include:

• ​the Federal Railroad Administration; 
• NS; 
• the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and 
• the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.
  

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