Memorial Held For Victim In Metro-North Crash, Joe Nadol
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A memorial service was held Saturday for one of the six people killed in the Metro-North crash in Valhalla this week.
Ossining resident Joseph Nadol, 42, was on his way home from work at JP Morgan Tuesday night when the Metro-North Harlem Line train he was riding slammed into an SUV near Commerce Street, CBS2's Ilana Gold reported.
The Harvard alum was an avid sports fan and traveler. He leaves behind a wife and three boys ages 7 to 10 years old, Gold reported.
"I understand he was an amazing family man, a wonderful member of the community, and we're all just devastated," New Castle Township Board Member Adam Brodksy told WCBS 880's Monica Miller.
Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy was asked not share anything about the family, but said the crowd was so large they couldn't accommodate everyone at the family's church. Instead, they held the service at the First Congregational Church about a mile away, Miller reported.
Memorial Held For Victim In Metro-North Crash Joe Nadol
"Our hearts go out to everyone who is affected by this, the families of those who died, the people who were injured," the reverend said.
"Somebody went to work, started his day, didn't come home. It was very, very sad. Could've been any one of us," Chappaqua resident John Ehrlich told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
Nadol's coworkers also attended the service.
"He was very jovial, a great guy to be around," one of Nadol's coworkers told Carlin.
"And a very talented analyst and people liked him and people who worked with him liked him," another said.
Nadol's memorial service comes one day after the driver of the SUV, Ellen Brody, was laid to rest in Dobbs Ferry.
"I said 'Boy that looks a lot like Ellen and sure enough the next picture out was unmistakably Ellen," said Brody's uncle, Sid Greenberg.
On Friday mourners also remembered train passenger Eric Vandercar at a ceremony in Mount Kisco.
"Everyone just feels bad for Eric and Jill and the family; He's loved over so many groups of people," said Don Estrin.
Meanwhile, NTSB officials say they still have plenty of work to do following the deadly crash.
The NTSB is now trying to determine whether or not the SUV driver involved in the crash heard the train coming.
CBS2 watched an investigator waiting for the train at Commerce Street. The crossing has flashing red lights and gates that silently come down without warning bells or any sound. You can only hear the approaching train.
Officials said as soon as the engineer saw the SUV on the track, he activated the emergency brake and hit the horn, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
"He sounded the horn all the way up to the point of collision," said Robert Sumwalt, with the NTSB.
Now, the NTSB will conduct an audio test.
"To determine how far down the tracks a train horn can be heard," he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Charles Schumer led a congressional tour of the incredible damage on Friday.
"We can listen for the bells here. There are none," said Blumenthal. "One sign that maybe rail safety right here ought to have been better."
Schumer and Blumenthal prayed silently over flowers at the site where six people died, and spoke about their up-close view of the bent up and burned sport-utility vehicle that was hit by the train, and the lead train car that was pierced by the third rail and burned from the inside.
"It was like looking inside a coffin," Schumer said.
According to investigators, the third rail on the tracks dislodged during the collision and plowed through the bottom of the train into the passenger compartment.
A rail expert said the crash could be the first of its kind and anticipates officials taking a close look at what happened to see if an affordable fix can prevent this from happening again.
"Unheard of, basically – but these are freak accidents," said Robert "Buzz" Paaswell, a rail expert and distinguished professor of civil engineering at City College of New York.
