Wellington Teen Killed By Train Was Most Likely Distracted By Earphones

WELLINGTON, Colo. (CBS4) - Witnesses say a teenager from Wellington who was killed after getting struck by a train Monday evening was distracted and couldn't hear the train behind her.

Victoria "Torry" Archibald, 16, was walking on some tracks just two blocks from her home in Wellington when she was struck.

Victoria Archibald (credit: CBS)

People had been stopping by the location of the incident all day Tuesday and created a small memorial.

"She was really bright and really smart," Archibald's friend Cymbrie Wair said. "She was always cheering people up ... she was always there."

Larimer County sheriff's deputies say Archibald was walking on the tracks near Grant Avenue just before 5 p.m. They say she was distracted by a small electronic device, and perhaps wearing earbuds, when she was struck and killed by a freight train headed north.

The scene on Monday (credit: Mike Nichols)

Witness Judy Gunther called it the worst crash she's ever seen.

"Horrific sound; a screeching sound from the train, and then it sounded like a bomb went off," she said.

Burlington Northern Sante Fe and deputies continue to investigate, but say all signs point to the crash as an accidental death.

The memorial at the scene (credit: CBS)

For Archibald's Poudre High School classmates and the many people who loved her, her death seems unimaginable.

"It's really creepy, like honestly, you don't honestly expect something like this to happen, especially for someone as smart as Torry," friend Shawna Conley said.