Jesse A. Woodrow, 50, 760 Eighteenth street, was killed almost instantly shortly after 8 o'clock last night when he fell from the top of a boxcar in the yards of the Yosemite Valley railroad company. Woodrow, a conductor, was making up a train at the time.   The accident occurred just as the train was drawing to a stop after switching cars. W. A. Thompson, brakeman, who was about three car-lengths from Woodrow at the time, heard the man cry out as he fell. Woodrow went down between two cars to have a leg and an arm severed. A Welch & Griffin ambulance was called but Woodrow died on the way to Mercy hospital. Thompson said today that there was no sudden jarring as the train was drawn to a stop, and expressed the opinion that Woodrow slipped from the top of the car.

        Woodrow had lived in Merced for four years, having come here to work with the railroad company. He is survived by his father of Windsor, Ill., and several sisters. An inquest will be held at the Welch & Griffin mortuary tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 o'clock, Coroner C. E. Welch said today.