SANTA ANA : Train Smashes Into Stalled Moving Van

A freight train crashed into a truck that had stalled on a railroad crossing Monday, splitting the truck in two and scattering furniture, appliances and boxes along 50 yards of track.

The train tracks were clear when the Bekins Van Lines truck stalled on tracks at the corner of Lincoln and Fairhaven avenues, but within moments an oncoming train sounded its horn.

“When we heard it coming, we ran up to (a nearby) bridge and flagged down the train,” truck driver Joseph Alexander said. “The driver looked surprised at first, but he apparently hit the brake.”

The train skidded for about 100 feet before smashing into the trailer of the Bekins truck.

“It was like in the movies,” Alexander said. “The train went right through it.”

The Santa Fe Railroad freight train was transporting a 17-car load of lumber and other cargo from Santa Ana to Fullerton. Mike Canales, an official with Santa Fe, said the train’s engine received significant damage.

“The trailer was like paper to the train,” Canales said. “If it had struck the cab (of the truck) it would have probably derailed.”

Alexander and two co-workers were headed to a home on Oakmont Avenue when the 9 a.m. accident occurred.

As Alexander attempted to make a slow turn from Fairhaven Avenue south onto Lincoln Avenue, the 48-foot vehicle grated against the slope of the tracks and grounded to a halt. He tried to reverse the vehicle out of the tracks, but it would not budge, he said.

As a Santa Ana police officer arrived on the scene, Alexander said he asked the patrolman: “What’s the train schedule?”

The officer sped off to inquire, Alexander said, but moments later, the signals sounded.

The railroad company closed the tracks for two hours as workmen attempted to recover furniture, appliances, books and dozens of cardboard boxes that were strewn along 50 yards of track. Alexander said the items belonged to several families who were moving from California to Texas and Arkansas. The recovered items were stored in two smaller Bekins trucks.

The tracks, which are part of the railway system’s San Diego Corridor, are also used by Amtrak and Southern Pacific. Canales and an Amtrak official said the daily train schedules were not affected.