Man Struck, Injured by Miniature Train at Museum of Transportation

The St. Louis County Parks Department has confirmed that a worker for the in Kirkwood was injured Thursday when a miniature train struck and dragged him a short distance.

Kyra Kaltenbronn,  manager of program services the for St. louis County Parks Department, said the man was working on the tracks when the train hit him. Kaltenbronn said she did not know what he was working on specifically. 

Kaltenbronn added that the man was transported to a nearby hospital where he was immediately treated. She said he did not suffer life-threatening injuries nor was his leg amputated, as some news agencies previously reported. His name or age were nor revealed. 

"His leg was not affected but his ankle was hurt," Kaltenbronn said, without elaborating on the injury.

Kathy Zemola, a Chicago resident in town visiting the museum with her three children aged 3, 6 and 11, helped pulled the worker from under the train.

Zemola said the man seemed to have been wearing headphones or a head covering when the train hit him. She said she did not see the man being hit, but other people tried to yell at him to get out of the way of the train.

The family was aboard the train when, Zemola told Kirkwood Patch, she heard a commotion, a rumbling, then realized that the train had struck the man.

She said the train was about 100 feet from the starting point of the train ride. 

Zemola said she and several other museum patrons saw the train strike the man and drag him a short distance. She and others worked on pulling him out from under the train. She said he had apparently injured his head, because there was blood on his face, and she could see the bone in his foot.

Paramedics were called to the scene, but Zemola said she did not stick around after that. There were about 25 to 30 people on the train. Activity at the museum seemed to be back to normal at about 3:20 p.m.