Lawsuit: Operator injured by BioPark train

Litigant blames city’s ‘do nothing until it breaks’ culture

A former zoo train engineer says the city of Albuquerque’s “do nothing until it breaks” culture is to blame for the May 2018 derailment that threw him from his seat and left him injured, a lawsuit alleges.

The ABQ BioPark’s narrow-gauge trains take visitors on loops around the zoo, and from the Zoo to the Aquarium and Botanic Garden, according to the city’s website.

Engineer James Lakatos was nearing the Asia Station in train No. 19, also known as Old Rusty, when “the axle of the main drive wheel on the port side of the engine sheared off,” according to the suit filed Wednesday in state District Court in Albuquerque.

“The train cab, where plaintiff was operating the train from, fell off the track and down onto the track rail, after bouncing hard several times,” the suit says. “Plaintiff was bounced hard up and down several times as the train fell off the track, before being thrown from his conductor’s seat.”

The lawsuit contends the city failed to maintain and inspect the train, and as a result, the train “fell apart and fell off the tracks while being operated by plaintiff.”

The suit doesn’t say specifically how Lakatos was injured or if anyone else was on the train at the time. His attorney, Una Campbell, did not respond to a request for comment.

City spokeswoman Jessie Damazyn said the city has not been served with the lawsuit and is not familiar with the specifics of the claim.

“Once the Legal Department receives the complaint, they will review it and respond accordingly,” Damazyn said.

Lakatos is seeking compensatory damages, costs of bringing the lawsuit and other relief as determined by the court.