(The following article by Lauren Rouleau appeared in today’s Boston Globe.)
BOSTON — Postal Service employee narrowly escaped injury yesterday after his tractor-trailer became stuck in the snow alongside railroad tracks in Braintree and was struck by an MBTA commuter train, authorities said.
The impact broke the mail truck in two, officials said, but no one was injured.
”It looked like a bomb had gone off in [the vehicle],” said Bob Cannon, a spokesman for the Postal Service in Boston.
MBTA officials said the truck became stuck in the snow on a privately owned lot adjacent to the tracks at Grove Street just after 10 a.m. They said the driver, Charles Dalrymple, got out of his vehicle moments before the side of the truck was struck by the train.
”I’d like to say that an angel was with me today,” said Dalyrmple, 53, who was hauling steel equipment from the Braintree Detached Mail Unit to Boston. ”You don’t come any closer than that, you know.”
Cannon said it will cost more than $60,000 to replace the truck. MBTA officials said there was no damage to the train, but that about 30 passengers were taken by bus from Braintree to Abington, where rail service continued to Kingston. The temporary arrangements lasted about an hour before normal service resumed.