WHY MY TRAIN WAS DELAYED

Woman dies as train hits pickup

Witness says victim drove past crossing arm, into path of Amtrak train in Fresno.

By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee

(Updated Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 6:31 AM)


The wreckage of a Ford F-250 four-door pickup that was struck by a northbound Amtrak train at Palm and Dakota avenues in central Fresno rests in a vacant lot, about 50 yards from the point of impact, Monday afternoon. The female driver of the pickup died at the scene of the collision.
Kurt Hegre / The Fresno Bee


A woman was killed Monday afternoon when the pickup she was driving collided with an Amtrak train at Dakota and Palm avenues in central Fresno.

The woman, traveling north on Palm Avenue in a Ford F-250 four-door pickup, ignored warning lights and bells and drove around the train's crossing arm, California Highway Patrol officer Jose Acosta said.

The northbound Amtrak train sounded its horn before it entered the intersection, Acosta said.

Unable to stop, the train slammed into the truck, pushing it through the crossing arm and warning lights on the west side of Palm Avenue.

The mangled pickup ended up in a dirt lot about 50 yards from the point of impact. The crossing arm and warning light pole were nearby.

"It looked like a ball off a bat," said Stephen Taylor, 54, of Fresno, who witnessed the collision.

Taylor, traveling south on Palm Avenue, waited behind the crossing arm as warning lights and bells chimed the pending arrival of the train. He said he also heard the train's horn.

He then noticed the northbound pickup moving slowly around the crossing arm.

"The train was going fast and she was going slow, as if she timed it," he said. The train tore apart the truck's undercarriage, Taylor said.

The victim died at the scene, Acosta said.

The train stopped a quarter mile north of the intersection.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said no one on the train was injured and the train remained operational.

The northbound train's final destination was Oakland. A new crew took over for the crew that witnessed the traumatic crash, Magliari said.

That train, as well as a southbound Amtrak train headed to Fresno and then to Bakersfield, was delayed temporarily to allow a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway crew to inspect the tracks at the collision site.

Traffic on Palm Avenue was re-routed away from the tracks until the intersection was cleared of debris and the tracks were inspected.


The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6434.