A train locomotive struck a pickup truck Wednesday afternoon at a railroad crossing north of Durango, Colorado, in the Animas Valley. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) reported no injuries, but the 2014 Toyota Tacoma sustained significant rear-end damage. The driver of the vehicle was cited for a traffic violation.
The collision occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. at Hermosa Meadows Road, near Animas Valley Elementary School. According to Darren Whitten, superintendent with the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge (D&SNG), locomotive No. 482 was on a test run, traveling south. The Toyota had stopped on the railroad right-of-way, waiting to turn onto U.S. Highway 550. Another vehicle was already stopped at the stop sign, and the Toyota was apparently unable to pull far enough forward to avoid the collision.
“We struck the very rear of the bed of the pickup truck,” Whitten said. “Some pretty significant damage to the truck, it looked like, but as far as the locomotive – really it came down to just paint scratches.”
The engineer applied the emergency brake and sounded the horn, Whitten said, but the vehicle was too close to avoid impact. Locomotives in the area travel at 20 mph or less.
Whitten estimated that such vehicle-versus-train collisions occur about once every other year along the D&SNG line. “It’s not a very common occurrence, but it can happen when somebody makes a last-minute decision to cross and is not looking out,” he noted.
CSP Capt. Angela DeGuelle emphasized the importance of caution at railroad crossings, particularly in rural areas with unprotected crossings. “Anytime you come up on tracks, you should be slowing and, you know, stop,” she said. “Look and listen. … Make sure that there is not a train coming.”
