KENT, Wash. — A railroad brakeman escaped with minor injuries when a slow-moving freight train hit a street sweeper early Tuesday morning, pinning the man’s leg between the end of a rail car and the damaged sweeper, the South County Journal reported.
Kent firefighters used pneumatic “jaws of life” tools to extricate the man’s leg after the accident about 12:50 a.m. on a spur line near the 18600 block of 80th Avenue South. The man was taken to a hospital for examination, but didn’t appear to be significantly injured, said a spokesman for the Kent Fire Department.
Firefighters were told a four-car train was backing up on the siding, with two brakemen riding on the end car as safety lookouts. The train was moving at between 5 and 7 mph when a small street sweeper crossed the tracks.
The brakemen signaled the engineer to brake, but there wasn’t enough time and the freight car struck the street sweeper, firefighters were told. One brakeman jumped clear of the collision. The other tried to climb up higher on the rail car and wound up being pinned.