MAPSemi-truck bypasses lowered railroad crossing gate; westbound Amtrak train hits and separates its trailer and drags the trailer down the track into oncoming freight train on adjoining track. (FELICIA MCGURREN/staff artist)
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.DEATH ON THE SOUTH SHORE
Gary's second passenger train collision in four days ended on a happier note than Monday's fatal South Shore Railroad crash. At 9:58 a.m. Thursday, a westbound Amtrak train traveling 79 miles per hour tore into a tractor-trailer truck driver who ignored a lowered crossing gate. Neither the truck driver, nor any of the 53 Amtrak passengers or crew members were injured in the collision.
"I felt this bump and looked out the window to see the back of a truck fly by me," said Joann Eck of Grand Rapids, Mich., a passenger heading to Chicago. "You could see pieces of it falling off the side of the track."
Truck driver Timothy Kros, 23, of DeMotte, was cited for disregarding a railroad crossing signal.
Kros, who drives for Jack Gray Transport of Gary, said he didn't see or hear the oncoming train. He was heading north on Clark Road through the Pine Yards freight yards near U.S. Steel when he saw the lowered gate. He didn't see a flagman directing traffic and saw fellow truck drivers traveling around the gate, so he thought it was safe.
"I felt a bump," said Kros. "I didn't know what happened. I looked around and my trailer was gone."
Kros said his tractor was not damaged, though.
The speeding Amtrak train, which police said had the right of way, dragged the steel trailer about one-half mile west along the Conrail tracks. The power and momentum of the engine, which was pushing the mangled trailer, derailed a freight car on adjoining tracks.
Police said Kros admitted driving around the lowered gate.
"He said the gates had been down for a while because other trains were switching cars," said Gary Police Corporal Gabrielle Glenn.
Passengers disembarked onto two Hammond Yellow Coach buses, which transported them to Chicago. They arrived at 1 p.m. Thursday, about 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled.
Most were relieved at their good fortune, but irritated by the travel delay. A few were excited about their brief adventure and brush with possible catastrophe.
"All of a sudden we heard this thump," said Robert Zemit of Chicago. ''We thought we'd derailed or something. It's a miracle no one was injured."
Zemit said there was no great sense of panic after the accident. He said the crew of Amtrak train No. 371, the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Chicago, did a good job of stopping the train.
Jeannette Caruso of St. Joseph, Mich., was grateful after the accident.
"I'm just glad nobody was hurt," Paul Coulis, vice president for Hammond Yellow Coach, said the interstate bus company dispatched three buses to the accident scene around 10:45 a.m., the sixth time in the last year the company has transported Amtrak passengers from locations in Indiana and Illinois.
After the crash, shards of twisted steel torn from the trailer and the trailer's chassis littered the Conrail tracks for hundreds of yards. Several dozen Conrail workers examined the tracks, righted the derailed freight car and removed the trailer debris from the rail line. A rescue engine ferried the Amtrak train, minus its passengers, to Chicago, where it arrived around 2 p.m.
NO ONE HURT WHEN AMTRAK TRAIN, TRACTOR-TRAILER RIG COLLIDEMAPSemi-truck bypasses lowered railroad crossing gate; westbound Amtrak train hits and separates its trailer and drags the trailer down the track into oncoming freight train on adjoining track. (FELICIA MCGURREN/staff artist)
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.DEATH ON THE SOUTH SHORE
Gary's second passenger train collision in four days ended on a happier note than Monday's fatal South Shore Railroad crash. At 9:58 a.m. Thursday, a westbound Amtrak train traveling 79 miles per hour tore into a tractor-trailer truck driver who ignored a lowered crossing gate. Neither the truck driver, nor any of the 53 Amtrak passengers or crew members were injured in the collision.
"I felt this bump and looked out the window to see the back of a truck fly by me," said Joann Eck of Grand Rapids, Mich., a passenger heading to Chicago. "You could see pieces of it falling off the side of the track."
Truck driver Timothy Kros, 23, of DeMotte, was cited for disregarding a railroad crossing signal.
Kros, who drives for Jack Gray Transport of Gary, said he didn't see or hear the oncoming train. He was heading north on Clark Road through the Pine Yards freight yards near U.S. Steel when he saw the lowered gate. He didn't see a flagman directing traffic and saw fellow truck drivers traveling around the gate, so he thought it was safe.
"I felt a bump," said Kros. "I didn't know what happened. I looked around and my trailer was gone."
Kros said his tractor was not damaged, though.
The speeding Amtrak train, which police said had the right of way, dragged the steel trailer about one-half mile west along the Conrail tracks. The power and momentum of the engine, which was pushing the mangled trailer, derailed a freight car on adjoining tracks.
Police said Kros admitted driving around the lowered gate.
"He said the gates had been down for a while because other trains were switching cars," said Gary Police Corporal Gabrielle Glenn.
Passengers disembarked onto two Hammond Yellow Coach buses, which transported them to Chicago. They arrived at 1 p.m. Thursday, about 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled.
Most were relieved at their good fortune, but irritated by the travel delay. A few were excited about their brief adventure and brush with possible catastrophe.
"All of a sudden we heard this thump," said Robert Zemit of Chicago. ''We thought we'd derailed or something. It's a miracle no one was injured."
Zemit said there was no great sense of panic after the accident. He said the crew of Amtrak train No. 371, the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Chicago, did a good job of stopping the train.
Jeannette Caruso of St. Joseph, Mich., was grateful after the accident.
"I'm just glad nobody was hurt," Paul Coulis, vice president for Hammond Yellow Coach, said the interstate bus company dispatched three buses to the accident scene around 10:45 a.m., the sixth time in the last year the company has transported Amtrak passengers from locations in Indiana and Illinois.
After the crash, shards of twisted steel torn from the trailer and the trailer's chassis littered the Conrail tracks for hundreds of yards. Several dozen Conrail workers examined the tracks, righted the derailed freight car and removed the trailer debris from the rail line. A rescue engine ferried the Amtrak train, minus its passengers, to Chicago, where it arrived around 2 p.m.
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