She thought the visitor had come to tell her that warning lights and gates were about to be installed at the rail crossing where her son John’s truck collided with a train two years ago.

She thought it might be a friend, offering comfort as the anniversary of his death nears.

Instead, Sharon Jobson was hit with a $500,000 lawsuit Tuesday for damage and inconvenience her son’s fatal crash caused railway giant CN Rail.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked,” the London-area woman said.

The lawsuit has sparked outrage among her friends on Facebook — some calling it “callous,” sickening” and a “money-grab.” The posts include one from the sister of Gloyde Mills, who died at the same crossing 13 years earlier.

The CNR lawsuit alleges John Jobson, 22, was negligent when he didn’t stop his pickup truck at the Pratt Siding crossing near Glencoe on July 29, 2011. He collided with a westbound Via train, which derailed. Six of the 116 people aboard were injured.

The young farmer, who also worked at a nearby roads, died in hospital six days later.

His mother, Sharon Jobson, has since campaigned for full lights, gates and bells at the double-track crossing and at several similar crossings where others have died or been hurt.

She won part of that battle — Transport Canada, CNR and Southwest Middlesex all approved and budgeted for the $400,000 siding improvement this year — and the safety equipment has been delivered to the township. Installation is expected within days.

A Transportation Safety Board report that said Jobson’s truck didn’t stop at the crossing noted the crossing had non-standard warning signs, which were partly obscured by weeds. It also said the train’s horn wasn’t retrofitted to newer standards.

The CN lawsuit, though, says John Jobson was “wholly responsible” for the collision and Sharon Jobson, his executor, is his legal representative.

The suit alleges John was an incompetent driver who was speeding, shouldn’t even have been driving, didn’t stop at the stop sign nor heed the Via train horn, was inattentive and either didn’t apply his brakes or did so too late.

It says CN “incurred substantial expense” to repair the tracks and extra expense from a bottleneck when the rail line had to be closed.

The lawsuit contains allegations that haven’t been proven in court.

CN spokesperson Mark Hallman said “we’re not in a position to comment” because the issue is in litigation.

Asked if CN has other lawsuits pending or settled from similar incidents, he said he couldn’t comment.

Sharon Jobson was stunned, both by the legal action and its timing.

The family has a lawyer, who is away, but they’d decided not to sue CN for what they still believe to be a succession of unsafe, minimally-protected crossings in the area.

“I thought the happy ending was (installation of) the lights and the gates,” Sharon Jobson said. “Right in the guidelines they say, where there are double tracks, there shall be gates and lights.”

Now she has 20 days to file a statement of defence and/or a counter-suit.

While the lawsuit’s timing might seem insensitive, it could be a function of regulation: Any lawsuit claiming wrongdoing in a death must be filed within two years of that fatality.

One London litigation lawyer, not connected to the case, said the railway may be protecting its two-year time limit in which to file a suit.

As a mother, Barb Legate said, she feels “shock and disbelief” the family would have to go through this, and so close to the anniversary of the young man’s death.

“It must be very, very hurtful and painful and my heart goes out to her,” Legate said.

CN Rail, which operates one of North America’s largest rail networks, reported almost $10 billion in revenue last year.

Toronto lawyer Kenneth Peel, who was general counsel for CN in the mid-1990s, and did some work for the railway until late 2007, said he “can’t imagine that there’s an intent to have caused renewed grief or hardship to the family.”

He said lawsuits are sometimes filed if a driver’s insurer doesn’t, or won’t, cover the cost of repairs and damages.

“I would expect it’s a procedural step,” Peel said.

Damages Via’s train incurred — the passenger line operates on CN tracks — or injuries to its passengers, aren’t included in the lawsuit.

Southwest Middlesex Mayor Doug Reycraft said he was unsurprised by the action: ”Litigators or litigation lawyers tend to always look for someone to blame,” he said.

No similar suit has been filed against Southwest Middlesex.

--- --- ---

THE LAWSUIT

— Filed by CN Rail in Ontario Superior Court of Justice,

— Claims $500,00, plus costs, plus 9.12% interest, plus GST

— Alleges John Jobson was inattentive and negligent, an incompetent driver who didn’t stop even though the train whistle sounded and there was a stop sign at the crossing.

— Says CN Rail “incurred substantial expense to repair the extensive track damage in the vicinity of the level crossing... (and) significant resources and monies were expended by CN to repair and re-open the track.”

— Suggests case be heard in Kitchener.

--- --- ---

THE CRASH

— John Jobson, 22, was driving north on Pratt Siding Rd. towards his farm on July 22, 2011

— His truck hit a westbound, four-car Via train about 10:30 a.m. at the crossing marked by crossbucks and a stop sign, but no lights or gates.

— The train had sounded its horn but an investigation failed to determine if Jobson had heard it. Jobson hadn’t stopped at the crossing.

— Jobson’s death was the second at that crossing, and one of more than a dozen at so-called passive crossings (marked with signs, but no lights or gates) in the area.

— Such crashes have prompted Transport Canada, at the Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation, to reassess all high-speed rail crossings in the Quebec-Windsor corridor.