THEODORE, Ala. — Two people were killed Thursday morning when an Amtrak passenger train slammed into a car at the railroad crossing on Bellingrath Road near Peary Road in Theodore, a collision that police say happened after the driver steered around lowered crossing gates in an attempt to beat the oncoming train.
The crash happened just before 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24. The eastbound Amtrak Mardi Gras Service train was traveling from New Orleans toward downtown Mobile when it struck the vehicle. The impact cut the car in half. A man and a woman inside the car died at the scene. No one aboard the train was reported hurt.
The Mobile Police Department on Friday identified the two people killed as James Cobb, 41, and Suzanne Wages, 44. Police said Cobb was driving and Wages was his passenger.
The crossing, in a residential and small-business stretch of south Mobile County, is the same one where a mother and her young daughter were killed in a nearly identical crash earlier this year. It was at least the fifth train-related collision in the south Mobile County area in 2026, and the latest in a string that has prompted repeated public warnings from city officials and rail safety advocates.
Police: the gates were down and the signals were working
Mobile Police Department officers, Mobile Fire-Rescue and CSX Transportation personnel responded to the scene. Traffic in the area was shut down for hours while first responders and investigators worked, and drivers were asked to avoid Bellingrath Road near the tracks.
Blake Brown, the City of Mobile’s public affairs manager and a police spokesman, said the safety equipment at the crossing was operating normally when the crash occurred and that the crossing arm was down.
“A vehicle was not wanting to wait, tried to go around the arms, and that vehicle was struck by the train here this morning,” Brown said. “It’s our understanding that the vehicle was completely cut in half by the train, and we’ve got two victims that are deceased who are inside of that vehicle.”
Investigators said the tragedy could have been prevented. Brown urged drivers to remember that a short wait at a crossing is a small price compared with the alternative, noting that waiting a couple of minutes can be the difference between life and death.
“Pay attention,” Brown said. “Don’t try to outrun a train. Don’t try to go under the arms. They’re there for a reason. If the arms are down, stay put. They will come back up.”
He added that the passenger train is faster than many drivers expect, and that it clears a crossing quickly.
“The Mardi Gras train moves very quickly. I mean, you may wait 15 to 20 seconds for it to go through, and it moves by pretty quickly,” Brown said. “This train goes a lot faster than some of the other freight trains that move through the area.”
CSX Transportation, which owns the rail line, Mobile Fire-Rescue and the Mobile Police Department are all involved in the investigation. Amtrak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Witnesses describe a loud boom and a car torn apart
The Rev. Leonard Whitfield, assistant pastor of Mount Airy Missionary Baptist Church in Theodore, said he had just driven over the tracks on his way to the barbershop when he heard the collision behind him.
“I came over the railroad track, made a right turn, heard a loud boom,” Whitfield said. “When I heard the boom, I turned around, made the block, and came back around.”
Whitfield said that, according to eyewitnesses he spoke with at the scene, another vehicle — a Tahoe — had stopped and was waiting for the train to pass when the car pulled around it.
“From my understanding, from eyewitnesses, that there was a Tahoe parked here, waiting on the train to go by,” he said. “He came around the Tahoe and went through the crossing and got hit.”
Derek Hester was working at a nearby auto body repair shop when he heard the crash. He said he walked over and found wreckage and a cloud of smoke.
“Tried to get around — came around the corner, and by the time he got to that gate, it was on him,” Hester said. “He tried to beat it and didn’t make it.”
Hours after the collision, debris was still scattered around the crossing. Half of the car sat alongside the railroad track, and Whitfield said the other half had been carried farther down the line by the train.
Update: Police identify James Cobb and Suzanne Wages
On Friday, Sept. 25, the Mobile Police Department released the names of the two people who died in the collision: James Cobb, 41, and Suzanne Wages, 44.
According to the department’s news release, Cobb was behind the wheel and Wages was riding as a passenger. Police said they believe Cobb drove around the lowered crossing gates in an attempt to cross ahead of the approaching train. Both Cobb and Wages were thrown from the car by the force of the impact, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said officers were called to the area of Bellingrath Road and Peary Road at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday after the train and the car collided. The department has not released additional details, and the investigation remains open.
Family friend remembers the victims
Before police released the names Thursday, Whitfield said the victims were James Cobb and Cobb’s fiancée, and that the couple leave behind a son who turned 7 years old on the day of the crash.
Whitfield said he has known Cobb since Cobb was born, and that he had seen him only a short time before the collision.
“Great kid. Very, very, very, very respectful. Come from a great, great family,” Whitfield said. “I seen him about 45 minutes prior to this incident. He was pumping gas in his car. And I spoke to him, hollered at him. He’ll throw his hand up and look and give you that smile.”
Whitfield said he recognized the silver car when he returned to the crossing, and that he then reached out to Cobb’s family. He said the family has asked for privacy.
“It’s a terrible tragedy for both sides — Amtrak, for the family, and for the Theodore community,” Whitfield said. “I hate to see this.”
Second deadly crash at the same crossing this year
According to Mobile police, Thursday’s collision was the second deadly crash at the Bellingrath Road and Peary Road crossing in less than a year.
On the morning of Feb. 21, 31-year-old Brittany Williams and her 8-year-old daughter were killed when their car went around lowered crossing arms at the same intersection and was struck by an Amtrak train, investigators said at the time.
The south Mobile County rail corridor has seen several other serious incidents in 2026. According to reports compiled after Thursday’s crash, they include:
- April 26, Grand Bay: A collision at U.S. 90 and Alabama 188 sent two people inside a commercial truck to be treated for minor injuries.
- May 18, Irvington: A crash near the Palmer’s One Stop on U.S. 90. Investigators said Kimberly Barber had been sitting on the railroad tracks and tried to get up when she heard a train approaching. She later died.
- Sept. 4, Irvington-Bayou La Batre Highway: A freight train struck a pedestrian near U.S. 90. Investigators said William Hieronymus was walking on the tracks at the time.
Whitfield said he believes the crossing needs stronger physical protection, suggesting barriers that rise from the roadway to block vehicles from driving around the gates.
“This ain’t the first,” he said. “This ain’t the second. This ain’t the third. This ain’t the fourth. This is the fifth Amtrak crash since it’s been back.”
Still, Whitfield said the most important safeguard is driver behavior.
“Things like this are avoidable. We just need to be alert, be patient, and do what’s right. Especially when we’re dealing with trains,” he said.
Passenger service brought faster trains back to the Gulf Coast
The train involved in Thursday’s crash was part of Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service, the passenger route that restored rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, with stops along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The route returned passenger trains to the corridor for the first time since Hurricane Katrina ended Gulf Coast service in 2005, and it recently marked its first full year of operation with roughly 150,000 riders.
The return of passenger trains has meant that drivers in communities along the line, including Theodore, Irvington and Grand Bay, now share crossings with trains that move at higher speeds than the slower freight traffic many residents grew up with. City officials have said they have tried repeatedly to get that message out.
“We put out PSAs ourselves. I know the city also put out some other information, as well,” Brown said. “Don’t try to outrun a train. Don’t try to go under the arms. They’re there for a reason.”
Alabama ranks among the worst states for crossing collisions
According to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rail safety education, Alabama ranks seventh in the nation for highway-rail grade crossing collisions.
Rail safety educators stress several points that apply directly to crashes like Thursday’s:
- Trains cannot stop quickly. A moving train can need a mile or more to come to a stop, far more distance than an engineer has once a vehicle appears on the tracks ahead.
- Trains are closer and faster than they look. Because of their size, approaching trains are notoriously difficult for drivers to judge, which is why “beating the train” is so dangerous.
- Gates and flashing lights mean stop. It is illegal to drive around lowered crossing arms. Drivers should wait until the gates are fully raised and the lights have stopped flashing before proceeding.
- Watch for a second train. After one train passes, drivers should make sure another is not approaching before crossing.
- Know the emergency number. Railroad crossings display a blue Emergency Notification System sign with a phone number and crossing identification number. Drivers who see a stalled vehicle, a malfunctioning gate or another hazard at a crossing can call that number to alert the railroad.
- If stalled on the tracks, get out. Drivers whose vehicles stop on a crossing should leave the vehicle immediately and move away from the tracks at an angle toward the oncoming train, so they are not struck by flying debris.
A community in mourning
For Theodore residents, Thursday’s crash is a painful reminder of February’s tragedy at the very same spot. Whitfield described the collision as one of those days that no one wants to live through, and he urged neighbors to slow down and respect the crossings they use every day.
“But one of those — just one of those days,” he said.
The investigation into the crash remains ongoing. The Mobile Police Department identified the victims on Friday as James Cobb, 41, and Suzanne Wages, 44, and has not announced further findings.
Drivers who travel Bellingrath Road, U.S. 90 and other roads that cross the rail line in south Mobile County are reminded that when the lights flash and the gates come down, the safest choice is always to stop and wait. As city officials put it Thursday, the gates will come back up.