A family is grieving after a 22-year-old man was fatally struck by a freight train in Phillipsburg.
The short path is speckled with crushed beer cans, leading through the woods and to the railroad tracks.
There, to the left, just at the edge of the brush was the memorial. A pinwheel, its bright colors gleaming in the Saturday sun, stood over flowers neatly placed around a dirty, old sneaker. A few feet away, at the near end of the railroad trestle over the street, is a sign: No trespassing.
This is where Michael Jacob Beaman died the night before.
The 22-year-old and at least one other person were riding off-road vehicles -- a railroad spokeswoman said dirt bikes, but the Warren County Prosecutor was not sure -- on the active Norfolk Southern track about 6:45 p.m. Friday in Phillipsburg.
They were headed in the same direction as the train when it came upon them on the trestle over Kent Street.
But Prosecutor Richard Burke said the train hit Beaman's vehicle from behind and sent the rider airborne, his landing seemingly the cause of his fatal traumatic injuries. No one else was hurt.
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Butch Smith lives closest to the tracks on Kent Street. He described hearing the train laying on its horn, a sign that something was on the tracks.
"I stepped out on the porch and I could hear screaming," he said. He called 911, but dispatchers were already aware. Phillipsburg police were on the scene in minutes.
Soon, Smith's driveway was full of crying, grieving people. He offered them water and a seat on his porch.
No one answered the door at Beaman's address in the 400 block of Watson Place in Phillipsburg. An empty box of children's diapers sat atop the garbage cans. A box of rainbow chalk sat on the stoop, and the door had stickers or magnets of the Disney character Pluto.
A GoFundMe account was started within hours of Beaman's death: "To help my family in a time of need, we need to make sure my brother has a proper viewing and burial," the message said. "He tragically passed during a tragic accident. He will be greatly missed by us all!"
Back on Kent Street, Smith described the numerous close calls involving off-roading vehicles that he has seen and heard on the trestle near his house.
"I always cringe, wondering -- sooner or later someone's going to get caught, you know?" he said, as a freight train rumbled by.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.