Thirteen people who were passengers on an Amtrak train that derailed March 14 near Cimarron have joined a federal lawsuit claiming gross negligence on the part of a cattle feeding company investigators have said damaged the track and subsequently caused the accident. The train was heading east toward its Chicago destination when it derailed at 12:02 a.m. March 14, about 2 1/2 miles west of Cimarron, injuring 28 people. The railroad tracks on which the accident occurred are owned and maintained by BNSF. Attorney Nathan Karlin of Pottrof Law Office in Manhattan filed a complaint in intervention Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Wichita on behalf of the 13 passengers. In doing so, the passengers collectively have become a third party in a lawsuit filed April 8 by Amtrak and BNSF Railway Co., claiming gross negligence on the part of Cimarron Crossing Feeders in connection with the derailment. The complaint in intervention also names Amtrak and BNSF as defendants. The complaint alleges each of the three defendants acted with negligence and failed to operate with care, and that their recklessness and intentional disregard for the passengers' safety led to the injuries and damages they suffered. Cimarron Crossing Feeders is located on a hill just north of the railroad tracks where the derailment occurred. The lawsuit claims what investigators have alleged, which is that at about 9 a.m. March 13, employees of the feed company were loading a feed truck that belonged to the company and "left the truck unattended, out of gear and without any brakes applied." The lawsuit alleges the truck rolled south down the hill, crossed U.S. Highway 50 and hit and damaged the tracks. According to the passengers' complaint, Cimarron Crossing Feeders retrieved the truck sometime on March 13 and failed to notify anyone prior to the accident that the truck had struck and damaged the tracks. The passengers are asking for a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Wichita and are seeking damages. For more on this story, go to: www.gctelegram.com