This kid is lucky to be alive.
I got a call asking if I was OK and if I had been hit by a train
After confirming to the caller I was OK, I was told that somebody in my department was nailed by an Amtrak train in my area. It wasn't long before someone drove up and told me that somebody from my company was hit by a train just down the road. As soon as I could I went to check it out. There were all sorts of FD and CHP's flying by heading to the scene.
This kid was crossing the SFRR tracks when a farmer was disking the field and the dust obscured his view until he actually saw the engineer up close and personal.
The kid jammed the truck into reverse trying to clear the tracks but never quite made it.
The impact tore off the bumper and the face of the vehicle, but the bumper went end over end slamming into the side of the passenger train for over 200 feet. Here is a picture of the bumper after it was picked up:
It really messed up the front of the train as well as the passenger cars.
I couldn't believe how fast the Amtrak stopped. The engineer said he was going 77MPH when he jammed on the brakes and hit the truck. The train stopped within about 500 [edit]
feet!
The Apprentice driving the truck better go buy a lotto ticket tonight!