A 29-year-old Lawrence man suffered an injury Sunday afternoon in North Lawrence when he was dragged by a train for about 200 feet before he came loose.

Police said the man became entangled with the Union Pacific Railroad train on tracks near the crossing just east of the Lawrence Visitor Information Center, 402 N. Second St. He apparently walked into a car near the rear of the moving train.

Around 12:30 p.m., someone found the man in the tracks east of the overpass over North Second Street and called police. The man was conscious and able to walk and talk, Sgt. Michael Monroe, a police spokesman, said. His injury seemed serious but not life-threatening, Monroe said.

The man, who was not run over by a train wheel, was flown by helicopter ambulance to Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. His name was not released, but Monroe said he did not live in North Lawrence.

The train never stopped. The area is a 40 mph speed zone, police said.

Kathryn Blackwell, a Union Pacific Railroad spokeswoman, said the company’s special agents were called to the scene when a witness said the man was leaning on a crossing rail.

Minutes later, a second witness then found the man 200 feet east of the crossing in the tracks after the train had passed, she said.

Blackwell said the company constantly warns people not to trespass near tracks, particularly when moving trains come through an area. The man told railroad investigators that he was trying to commit suicide, she said.

“It sounds like this individual’s going to live to get a second chance,” she said.

The railroad company has turned the investigation over to police.

The accident happened nearly one year after a pedestrian was killed on the same tracks in almost the same location.

Jeannie Marie NewMoon, 53, Lawrence, died Aug. 12, 2006, when she was struck by a Union Pacific train on the west side of the overpass as she walked a bicycle across the tracks and a pedal apparently got caught in the tracks. According to an autopsy filed in Douglas County District Court, she tested positive for sedatives and may have been undergoing liver failure caused by cirrhosis.