Early Wednesday morning, a train collided with a tractor-trailer on the railroad crossing at South Fales Avenue and East Railroad Street, closing down crossings on the east side of town for several hours while work and rescue crews cleaned up the wreckage. There were no injuries reported.
The accident happened around 2 a.m. when a tractor-trailer headed to Walmart Distribution Center attempted to cross the tracks on Fales and Railroad Street. The crossing is elevated and has a warning sign discouraging trucks from attempting to cross there. The truck had come into Douglas on Highway 221 and, presumably, the truck’s GPS routed the vehicle off 221 and onto Fales then to Railroad. From there, the truck would have turned left on McDonald then right on Baker Highway and on to Walmart. However, the GPS was likely taking the truck to Walmart’s front driveway not the truck entrance (something GPS devices commonly due to trucks bound for Walmart Distribution Center).
The trailer became stuck on the railroad tracks and the driver got out of the vehicle before the train, which could not stop in time, hit the trailer. The truck was hauling a load of Utz chips and there were bags, boxes, and chips all over the accident scene.
Initially, crews thought the cleanup would take six hours or more, resulting in the closure of several important crossings well into the morning drive. Fortunately, they were able to get everything taken care of before daylight and there were no significant traffic interruptions as people made their way to work this morning.