VALPARAISO -- A surprise settlement Wednesday derailed the wrongful death trial stemming from a fatal collision involving a South Shore train in Portage.

The settlement, described as record-breaking for Porter County, secured an undisclosed amount of money on behalf of the wives of three men killed when a Chicago-bound commuter train collided with a truck carrying a steel coil June 18, 1998.

Those slated to receive money in the settlement are Michigan resident Carol Berndt, window of Gary Berndt; LaPorte resident Carol McCombs, window of William McCombs; and Michigan City resident Christa Eackles-Walker, window of Glen Walker.

"It's never going to bring back her husband, but hopefully it will bring some closure," said Chicago attorney Kevin Durkin, who helped to represent McCombs.

Each of the nine defendants in the case secured a share of the settlement, said Portage attorney Donald Rice, who served as local counsel on behalf of the surviving wives.

The list of defendants includes the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore commuter trains; Norfolk Southern Railway Co., which now owns tracks at the crossing where the accident occurred; Thyssen Steel, where the steel coil originated; Sequa Coatings Corp., parent company of Precoat Metals, where the coil was bound; National Steel; truck driver Keith Lintz; and trucking firms.

Durkin said he believed the defendants agreed to the last-minute deal in order to avoid having the issue of fault argued before the six-member jury, which had been selected during a lengthy process Tuesday.

Former Porter Superior Judge Robert Kennedy, who served as an out-of-court mediator in the case, received much of the credit for the settlement.

"I think the mediator did a wonderful job," said Michigan City and Chicago attorney Ted Leonas, who helped to represent Eackles-Walker.

Kennedy, on hand Wednesday morning working right up to the point when the settlement was announced, said he has been busy each day over the past two weeks keeping the lines of communication open for a potential settlement.

"I'm tired," he said.

Porter Superior Judge Roger Bradford thanked everyone involved, saying he wished other attorneys could see how well the case had been handled.

The settlement not only brings the case to a close for the survivors of the crash victims, but also saves taxpayers money.

Bradford said he planned to request an additional $16,392 to cover jury costs during what could have been a six-week trial. As it was, he said the county will pay out an estimated $882 to cover the mileage of the selected jurors and 85 potential jurors called in Tuesday, in addition to another $2,075 for the per diem fee paid to the same group.

Wednesday's settlement is the second in the case. A settlement, reached last week on behalf of 16 South Shore passengers injured in the 1998 crash, totaled near $1 million.

That part of the case is not yet over. The group's attorney, Kenneth J. Allen, said his clients believe the state has some liability for the accident and plans to appeal an earlier decision by Bradford to grant the state immunity.

Bob Kasarda can be reached at bkasarda@nwitimes.com or (219) 462-5151, ext. 345.