Richard James Hansel saved John W. Keane from being killed by a train, Penns Grove, New Jersey, November 16, 1961. John, 4, wandered onto a railroad track on which a freight train was approaching at 20 m.p.h.. The engineer sounded the horn and, when the engine was within 400 feet of John, applied the emergency brakes. John remained on the track. Hansel, 27, railroad fireman, left the engine’s cab by a rear door and descended steps near the rear of the locomotive. The train then was within a 175 feet of John, traveling at a decreasing speed of 10 m.p.h. Hansel jumped from the steps onto the roadbed of loose earth and cinders. He stumbled slightly but quickly regained his footing and ran alongside the track, moving ahead of the engine when it was 50 feet from John. Hansel then veered onto the track and into the path of the train, where he kept ahead of the engine as he continued running between the rails. The engine was five feet behind him when he reached John, scooped him up in one arm, and lunged from the track. Hansel hit the ground with John and rolled into a ditch as the locomotive passed them and stopped 100 feet beyond.
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