MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A suburban Detroit man who was killed when he fell from a freight train near Chehalis was fascinated by trains since childhood and enjoyed riding the rails, authorities say.
Jason P. Litzner, 25, wife Rosie, 22, and a female friend had climbed aboard the car in Tacoma and were headed for San Francisco when the accident happened Sunday.
“He absolutely loved trains,” his mother, Marsha Litzner, told The Macomb Daily. “If he had to choose how he died, he wouldn’t have thought about being shot or from cancer or a car accident. He would have wanted to have died on a train.”
The car was a type nicknamed a “suicide car” because it consists only of a frame for cargo containers.
The other woman, a 20-year-old from Fort Lewis, told police that she saw Litzner fall onto the rails.
Litzner’s wife was asleep at the time of the accident, authorities say. Chehalis police Detective Jeff Elder said the three had consumed half a bottle of wine and also had half a case of beer with them.
“This is the third case of this type we’ve had this year with hobos getting on the trains when they’re not supposed to and then a tragedy happens,” Elder said.
As a child, Litzner dressed as a train conductor for Halloween. He was known as free-spirited and very independent, with a flair for writing, drawing and crafts, family members say.
“He lived in the fast lane, he lived on the edge but he lived his life the way he wanted to,” said his father, Elton Litzner. “He liked to travel and visit various towns. And he loved trains. He figured out exactly how to get from point A to point B by jumping on a train.”
Jason Litzner referred to his wife as “Railroad Rosie” because they traveled around the country by hopping freight trains.
They married on Halloween in New Orleans, where they had traveled to aid relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims.
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