NEW BERN, N.C. — Tim Poplin could not believe his eyes when he saw a bright yellow N.C. Department of Transportation fuel tanker stop at a railroad crossing, rev the engine and proceed across the tracks toward Tebow Road near Riverdale in Craven County, the New Bern Sun Journal reports.
“No way, is that truck going to cross? And, sure enough the truck and train collide,” Poplin said Monday afternoon. “Within two seconds the truck was hurled 120 feet from the crossing.”
No one was injured in the resulting collision, which occurred around 2 p.m. Monday. However, damage to the truck was extensive and caused some fuel to leak. The Norfolk-Southern engine, hauling 15 tanker cars, also suffered some damage. Cost estimates of the damages to the truck and engine weren’t available.
Poplin said the train, engineered by Ken Suggs of New Bern, was sounding its horn as it approached the crossing, which is marked but has no crossing gate or flashing lights.
“I saw the state truck pulled up and stopped and at the same time I heard the train whistle,” he said. “I heard the truck engine rev up and I thought to myself, no way is that truck going to cross the tracks, but it did. I called 911”
Ray Hardy, 43, of New Bern, was driving the DOT tractor-trailer, which was transporting about 450 gallons of diesel fuel. Estimates of the leakage range from “slight” to 250 gallons.
Marvin Seagroves, the DOT safety officer and environmental officer with the DOT Greenville division office, said shortly after the crash that DOT trucks were on the way to the site with sand.
“It looks like the diesel spill stayed on flatland and didn’t get into the ditch,” Seagroves said.
Tim Harvey, Craven County assistant fire marshal, said the nearby ditch would be diked to keep any diesel fuel from leaking into it.
Seagroves said DOT would hire a private environmental cleanup company to clear the area.
Harvey said while the spill causes concern, diesel fuel is not as flammable as some combustible fuels.
“The truck driver was lucky,” Harvey said. “If he were five feet the other way, it would have been much more serious.”
Investigating North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper David Oglesby said the train was traveling west at about 30-35 mph.
“The DOT truck came up to the crossing traveling south on Riverdale Road and stopped, then proceeded across the track,” he said. “The engineer locked up the train and bam.”
Oglesby said motorists should proceed with caution after stopping at a railroad crossing. “Once they stop, they should look both ways and look both ways again,” he said.
Hardy was cited with failing to stop at a railroad crossing.