Remembering Ava Jean 12 years later

By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com

It was Nov. 8, 2014 at 8:05 p.m. when Julie Ridenour lost her daughter, Ava Jean. A train operated by the Indiana Transportation Museum (ITM) struck Ava’s truck at a rail crossing in Tipton County.

On Sept. 9 of this year, Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad (NPHR) Executive Director Emily Reynolds and her team gave Julie Ridenour the moment of humanity and acknowledgement of loss that ITM never did.

ITM no longer exists. That train and that rail now belong to NPHR.

The Reporter was present on Sept. 9 for the first rail bike ride along the tracks in Tipton. It was an event at which Ava Jean was remembered and the Ridenour family was given the opportunity both to be recognized and to build a positive memory of the rails by being the first family to pedal a rail bike along them.

The Reporter later spoke with Julie Ridenour about the accident that took her daughter’s life, her family’s long path to healing, and how NPHR is returning to Tipton with safety as the first priority.

“It was an absolute honor to be a guest, to be thought of,” Ridenour told The Reporter. “Emily [Reynolds] did so well putting everything together and making sure that we were comfortable and that we felt that Ava was remembered appropriately. I don’t know everyone else by name, but it was put together very nicely.”

When talks about using the rails again in Tipton County began, Ridenour said all she and her family had ever asked for was that it be done safely.

“Everything has been [safe] so far, and everything sounds like it’s going to be in the future,” Ridenour said. “Safety was our number-one concern. They’re safe. So we were happy about the opportunity to be able to see our community grow.”

The rail crossing where Ava lost her life did not, and still does not, have crossing arms. NPHR and the City of Tipton have promised to put arms there before a train uses those tracks again. In the meantime, rail bikes will only operate on the track when flaggers are on site to stop traffic as the bikes pass the intersection.

She called it a bittersweet experience to finally have Ava remembered and to see that while the rails are in use again, for now only with bikes, they are safer than before.

“It was very bittersweet and, I think, part closure,” Ridenour said. “Real closure will come when the arms are put up for another train to go through. Not needing to worry about anything like that happening to anyone else will happen when the arms are put up – that’s the main concern from here forward. Emily did give me her word that everything will be done safely and she believes as well that arms need to go up before a train would go through there.”

Ridenour had not kept up with the closing of ITM and the purchase of the train and rail by NPHR. She finds NPHR to be caring and thoughtful.

“We have never been contacted through the Transportation Museum, ever,” Ridenour said. “There was no message of condolence. There was no contact made whatsoever between or for them to us. I had asked to meet with the conductor at one point and they didn’t respond. No one responded to me for anything.”

Ridenour told The Reporter she thinks ITM was silent out of fear of admitting guilt, but that she was not asking for an admission, just a human acknowledgement of the tragic accident.

“I mean, it was an accident,” Ridenour said. “They don’t call them ‘on purposes.’ I understand it was an accident, but you could still be a kind human.”

Twelve years later, kind humans are in charge of the train.

“I am so grateful for Emily and the way that she’s done this,” Ridenour said. “She’s been so, so good. Leading up to the meeting with Emily, I had so much anxiety because I was afraid that things were not going to go well. You know, the ‘what if, what if, what ifs.’ Emily just brushed all of that right to the side from the very first five minutes meeting her and talking with her. She’s just incredible. It was a good conversation. ‘How can we make sure that your needs are met through this transition? And we don’t want to be offensive. We don’t want to be hurtful. We want your healing along with moving forward.’”

Ridenour just wants people to be safe.

“I don’t want anybody, ever, to have to go through what I went through.” Ridenour said. “I’m not hard to please. Just make it safe like they were supposed to do from the beginning. That’s it. And she [Emily] gave me the assurance that that’s all she wants as well.”

Ridenour had no idea when she sent NPHR a message on Facebook about the rail bikes that she’d have this kind of connection with people from the train.

“How incredible is it that it started over a Facebook post?” Ridenour said. “And how incredible is it that we get to meet one of the gentlemen and hug him and love on him this evening and remember our daughter together? It’s just amazing. I’m beside myself with all the emotions today. Was it an accident and was it preventable? Absolutely. But it wasn’t malicious. No one was malicious. And that’s what I have wanted to express to the gentleman for 12 years. There’s nothing done on purpose. And we just want to love you because we know that it’s going to be with you for the rest of your life as well. And that’s hard.”

When asked for anything else she would like to express to our readers, Ridenour’s voice broke as she said, “John 3:16. Everything is possible with grace. With God, everything is possible because we prayed all the countless prayers that we’ve had over the last 12 years that we would get to meet and to hug. The engineers, the conductors from that night – just tell them how much we love them. And we’ve never blamed them one time.”