Train Hits Semi In LaGrange Illinois - Video

[ProfessorGAC]

Fortunately, the train wasn't moving that fast so nobody was hurt.
You see the building get damaged.
Thing is, the warning bells are going on the whole time, so can't fathom what that truck driver was thinking.

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[SheltieLover]

1. Glad nobody was hurt!

[ProfessorGAC]

3. I Couldn't Believe That Streetlight Survived

I was sure it would get knocked down, but it's still there in the aftermath.
It did knock down one of the support pillars of the building.
Thankfully, nobody was on that platform when it happened. That building is a Metra station.

[SheltieLover]

6. Omg! That metra station could've been packed with commuters!

[DET]

9. Even the truck driver?

The train knocked the truck over and ripped it open like a tin can. I can’t imagine how the truck driver survived that.

[SheltieLover]

10. Dunno. That's what Prof said.

[Igel]

13. I imagine that the trailer was sheared off at the hitch.

The "tractor" was tilted and returned to upright, the "trailer" relatively trashed. It would resist acceleration (hey, inertia!). So would the trailer, but torque and shear would have something to say about it.

Note that the trailer crumpled, didn't see that it was actually ripped open.

Those signs that say not to stop on RR tracks ... They're not kidding. They give a distance, observe it. Those engines are massive and require stopping time, speed dependent, but still more time than you'd think. Newton's laws will not be denied. Push it too hard with that impulse, that outside force, you might cause a derailment and that would often be worse.

[DET]

15. You're Right

I failed to distinguish between the ‘tractor’ and the ‘trailer’. As you said, upon further review, it appears that that tractor separated from the trailer at impact and righted itself, undoubtedly to the great relief of the driver.

We have a railroad crossing a couple of miles from here. You have to drive over it to get into the historic little town that is used as a major cut through daily for thousands of commuters to get to the next county. It amazes me that there have been no fatalities at that crossing, although there have been a couple of close calls. There are houses all along the railroad track. What sounds to me like remote romantic clacking and tooting must sound much different up close and personal. I could never understand why people buy those houses. I’d be terrified.

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. I know exactly where that is.

Bad rush hour into the SW suburbs.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Yeah, NBC Says All Trains On That Route Is Halted

The train has been sent on its way, though.

[Demovictory9]

5. Omg

[boonecreek]

7. Slow moving freight, fortunately.

If that been a commuter express on the center track it would have been really bad.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Thought Exactly The Same

I live in a town where Amtrak goes through on high speed rail.
Even through town, they're going 60. If that hits that truck, look out!

[moniss]

11. Also Illinois long ago made the bad decision in many areas to put

roads and streets closely parallel to train tracks and so when a road or street crosses those tracks there is a traffic light or stop sign and what can happen is people see a green light or a yellow light and they proceed to try to make their turn etc. but can get caught by traffic or a light turning red before they can make their turn. So now they are on the tracks. This happens with cars too where there is only space for one car past the tracks and before the traffic signal. One car follows the other on green over the tracks but then the light turns yellow but instead of completing the turn the first car stops and now the second car is on the tracks.

The situation here seems to be that the warning was going and the gates are down. However just based on the video it looks like situations I've seen where there is a vehicle in front originally and the trucker mistakenly follows that vehicle and then is on the tracks. The driver may have realized his mistake and tried to proceed into the intersection but there was no time. Notice that in the beginning you do see the traffic light turn from red to green but we can't be sure from this angle whether that is the light for him or the traffic perpendicular to him. One thing we can be sure of is that when one light changed the other did also. Driver error and back in the day one of the first things a trucker was told is "don't ever get caught having to stop on the tracks". So the right thing to do is to wait until you are sure you can go over the tracks and complete your turn in one complete movement. Sometimes, obviously not here, even in the best of efforts to do so somebody pulls out from a parking spot etc. or a pedestrian starts crossing once you have started across the tracks and what you thought was a clear path to make your turn vanishes and then a light turns or you have to wait for even more traffic that is now coming.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. "...don't ever get caught having to stop on the tracks."

My dad drove a semi. It's something he taught us when we were learning to drive.
Obviously, it's easier to avoid a tight situation with a car, but we were being taught by a guy who drove a 50' long vehicle.
I agree something weird happened. That truck came to a full stop when the train was in clear view.
If I see updates on the local news, I'll come back to this thread.

[Renew Deal]

14. I wonder what was going on with the truck

It seemed like it had power to move.

[onethatcares]

16. I wonder who he drives for

I don't think the initials "P" T L" mean "Pass the lotion" but maybe they do