(The following story by Frank Warner appeared on The Morning Call website on November 12, 2009.)
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A tractor-trailer was hit by a Norfolk Southern train late Wednesday night near Fleetwood, Berks County, after the truck got stuck on the railroad crossing, police said.
No one was injured because the truck driver, Timothy Welcome of Orlando, Fla., was out of the cab trying to see what had snagged the rig.
“Pretty much as he climbs out of the cab, he hears the horn on the train,” a Fleetwood police spokesman said.
The real axle of the cab caught on the tracks at Walnuttown Road, south of Route 222, in Richmond Township, police said.
The train struck the tractor-trailer at 11:15 p.m. between the cab and the trailer, tearing open the trailer and tossing its cargo of magazines, catalogs and fliers. A utility pole was hit by the flying truck and tilted over.
The westbound train was not derailed, but it stopped until a safety crew let it go again.
Walnuttown Road was closed until 12:45 p.m. today while the track was cleaned up and the utility pole was uprighted.