Locomotive Strikes Stuck Truck and Giant Tractor

A Caterpillar 980 loader can’t really stop a train in its tracks, but it can sure slow it down. Just before noon Wednesday the driver of a semi truck hauling a 33-ton piece of heavy equipment on a lowboy trailer tried to go over the railroad crossing at Breslauer Way and got high-centered. Rather than call for help or for a train stoppage, the driver kept trying to free the stuck trailer until a southbound freight train came along and smashed into it. The impact threw the giant machine from the rig, destroying the whole crossing arm system. The crossing will be closed to traffic for several days as repairs are made. The driver was not injured.