Freight train slices open big rig stuck on railroad crossing in Forest Park

Snacks and sodas were scattered along the railroad tracks near Main Street and Hale Road Monday morning after a freight train slammed into a tractor-trailer stuck on a crossing.

“Mind-blowing to see something like that happen,” Tyshawn Barron said.

Barron lives along the railroad tracks, where a Norfolk Southern freight train collided with the tractor-trailer around 7:30 a.m. The impact split the trailer apart and sent its load of snacks flying along the tracks.

“The impact split the trailer in half. The cab and a portion of the trailer on one side, and the rest of the trailer is on the other side. We had cargo scattered for 100 yards down the tracks,” Fire Department Capt. Brett Boyle said.

Boyle said the tractor-trailer became stuck on the crossing, which has a steep hump. When the truck bottomed out, the driver got out of the cab.

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“The train conductor said he exited the cab and was standing on the side of the tracks trying to wave them to stop. But as we know, trains can’t stop on a dime,” Boyle said.

Fire officials said the truck driver and train engineers were not hurt. No pedestrians were near the tracks when the collision happened.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing. If someone was walking there, it could have been a whole other thing. Way more than what it was,” Barron said.

Fire officials said big rigs are not allowed to use the crossing, and warning signs are posted in the area. Despite those warnings, officials said large trucks still get stuck at the crossing a few times a month.

This time, a train was coming.

Fire officials said the truck driver will likely face multiple traffic citations.