BILLINGS, Mont. — A 78-year-old Nashua man died Sunday when he drove around railroad crossing warning arms and his car was hit by an Amtrak train in Nashua, the Billings Gazette reports.
The incident occurred about 12:05 p.m. on Highway 117, where the highway runs through Nashua, said Montana Highway Patrol Officer Pat McCarthy. The victim was not immediately identified, pending notification of his family.
A freight train was stopped at the crossing while waiting for Amtrak’s Empire Builder to go through, when the man drove his silver 1991 Buick Elantra north and around the crossing arms. The arms were down, with the warning lights going, and the Amtrak crew blew the train whistle, McCarthy said. But, he said, the westbound train could not stop and hit the Buick.
The man was ejected, and the 14-car train pushed the Buick about three-quarters of a mile west along the tracks. McCarthy said the man died on impact.
“We are not sure if he was wearing a seat belt or not,” McCarthy said. “The impact was so severe a seat belt could have broken.”
The train hit the four-door Buick in the middle of the front passenger’s door, the officer said. The engine block was ripped out of the car and landed about 50 feet from the point of impact.
McCarthy said investigators believe that the man was alone in his car, although his dog could not immediately be found.
The collision rocked the small town of Nashua. The town has a population of about 325, according to the 2000 census. McCarthy said the wreck happened within eyeshot of the Nashua Senior Center where people knew the victim. It was not clear if the man had been at the Senior Center earlier.
An employee at the Wagon Wheel Bar, about two blocks from the crash scene, said word of the wreck went through town fast. He estimated that 32 to 36 trains go through Nashua each day.
The Empire Builder was en route between stops in Wolf Point and Glasgow. McCarthy said the train included two engines, a baggage car, a mail car and 10 passenger cars. Most passengers did not realize there had been a collision, he said.
Robert Beck, a supervisor in Amtrak’s Philadelphia call center, said that, according to computer reports, about 145 passengers may have been on the train. None of the passengers or crew was injured; however, the engineer chose to be relieved for the remainder of his leg of the trip.
Wrecks are traumatic and often put crews in “powerless” situations, Beck said.
“They are just watching this thing unfold before their eyes,” he said. “Trains are big and heavy and just don’t stop. They do whatever they can to signal the driver.”
A MHP dispatcher said the crew activated the train’s emergency brakes.
The front engine sustained minor damage in the collision, Beck said. The train powered itself into Glasgow, where it took about 30 minutes to repair the damages.
The Empire Builder was scheduled to leave Wolf Point at about 11:40 a.m. and stop in Glasgow about 12:25 p.m. — which would have been about 20 minutes after Sunday’s wreck. Beck said the train ended up about 2-1/2 hours late and caused subsequent delays for other trains.
Trains are often able to make up time on the Hi-Line, and the crew anticipating doing so after leaving Glasgow, he said. Law-enforcement, ambulance and fire crews from Nashua, Fort Peck, Glasgow, McCone and Valley counties all responded to the scene, McCarthy said. He estimated that about 50 emergency workers helped during the investigation in the 85-degree heat.
This is the second vehicle vs. train fatality in Montana in less than a week.
On Thursday a 28-year-old Billings man was killed, and his passenger slightly injured. The pickup they were in approached a crossing west of Billings and collided with an oncoming Burlington Northern Sante Fe freight train. That crossing does not have warning arms.
Both McCarthy and Beck said people need to remember that vehicles can stop much easier — and faster — than a train.
McCarthy said people should “Stop. Look. Listen. And live.” Above all, both men said, obeying crossing arms saves lives.
“Be on the lookout for trains, especially at crossings,” Beck said. “The gates are down for a reason, even if you can’t see the train.”