Our entire county is saddened and puzzled by the tragedy that happened in Porters Falls Monday evening. The death of Andrew Haslam simply leaves us speechless.

We can only assume the reason he did not respond to the train’s warning whistles and undoubtedly screeching brakes was because he was distracted by the sounds emitting from his headphones. While it make seem unbelievable that such a large locomotive could be so hard to hear and feel, we believe that sometimes concentration on a particular thing, like music or thoughts, can make a person a bit oblivious to his surroundings. We can’t make sense of it, but we can offer condolences.