One minute, Sharon Goins was standing near the railroad tracks between Sholar Avenue and Norfolk Southern's DeButts Yards, talking to the conductor of a stopped train.

The next minute, she was dead, having turned around into the path of a train on the tracks behind her.

"It kind of happened so fast," said Ms. Goins' daughter, Tifiney Goins.

Accounts differ as to why Ms. Goins, 49, was walking between the rails of CSX tracks near the CARTA garage about 4:30 p.m. April 21. According to a Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office report, she was asking a stopped train conductor for money. Her daughter says she was simply chatting with him. Toxicology reports are pending.

The incident was one of three casualties involving trains in the last three weeks in Hamilton County.

On April 24, police found Daniel Derryberry, 46, of Chattanooga, lying underneath a train at 100 Wauhatchie Pike. He suffered severe injuries and was listed in critical condition at Erlanger hospital Friday.

And on May 1, a 22-year-old man was killed by a train at the Igou Ferry Road and Norfolk Southern Crossing. His death was ruled a suicide by the Medical Examiner's Office. According to a Soddy-Daisy police report, drugs and alcohol were believed to be a factor, but a toxicology report is pending.