Train Strikes Truck in Downtown LG
-
The impact of the train cut the trailer in half. The front part of the trailer and the cab spun around and took out the cross arm pole. Photos by Andy Behlen -
Witnesses reported a loud “boom” when the train hit the trailer that was loaded with groceries. Boxes of bread, buckets of pickles, tubs of hummus and jugs of milk went flying hundreds of feet down Lafayette St.
Groceries Scattered By Collision, Taken Home by Onlookers
A BNSF train crashed into an 18-wheeler at the railroad crossing on North Main St. in La Grange Thursday afternoon, Sept. 19.
The crash happened around 4:25 p.m. Thankfully, no one was injured.
A Performance Foodservice truck loaded with groceries had just made a delivery to Care Inn nursing home. The truck left the nursing home and headed south on N. Main St. The trailer’s landing gear got hung up on the steep incline as it crossed the railroad tracks. The truck was unable to drive forward or in reverse.
The driver and the passenger got out of the truck. They called 911 to report the trailer blocking the tracks. Fayette County dispatchers contacted railroad officials. But a train happened to be quickly approaching. The train crew applied emergency brakes but could not stop it in time.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud “boom” as the front locomotive slammed into the trailer. The trailer split in two. The truck and the front part of the trailer spun around facing west, which knocked down the crossarm pole on the south side of the tracks.
The contents of the refrigerated trailer went flying hundreds of feet down Lafayette St., the alley that runs along the railroad.
The rear part of the trailer spun facing east and smashed against the chain link fence surrounding the old Fayette Electric property to the north of the tracks.
The front of the train came to rest a few feet west of the US 77 intersection.
The staff at Care Inn heard the crash from inside their building.
“We heard a loud bang inside here and then we heard the sirens, so we ran out to see what was going on,” said Sherri Routh, one of the nurses at Care Inn.
Routh and fellow nurse Dmisha Medrano rushed down the street to help.
“The closer we got, we thought the cab of the truck was under the train,” Routh said. “We didn’t know what we were going to find. Once we got up there, an officer told us everyone was fine. Then we were able to see the guys who just left here on the other side of the tracks. That was a relief to us. They had just left our building. Initially we thought we were walking into a disaster.”
Care Inn Administrator Chandra Polk praised the nurses for jumping into action.
“I’m super proud of these nurses,” Polk said. “They didn’t know what they were going to see.”
Polk recalled a brief encounter she had with the driver right before the accident.
“Just before the driver left our building, I was at the nursing station,” Polk said. “I told him ‘God is good.’ That driver said, ‘All the time.’ And seconds later, that happened.”
A small army of first responders rushed to the scene, including La Grange Police, Fayette County Sheriff’s deputies, State Troopers, Fayette County EMS, and the La Grange Fire Department.
Officers diverted traffic around the scene of the wreck. US 77 remained closed for a short time.
The chaotic scene attracted a crowd of spectators.
Heaps of groceries lay strewn along the tracks – boxes of bread, jugs of milk, tubs of hummus, buckets of pickles, packages of frozen crawfish tails, salmon filets, apples, celery, tomatoes and more. All of it was a complete loss.
A few folks packed off some provisions before they spoiled in the hot sun. Cleanup crews disposed of the rest.
La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath said officers reopened US 77 to traffic around 7 p.m.
The other crossings west of there remained closed until around 9:30 p.m.