Train Hits Stuck Truck Rig at Encinitas Crossing

An empty tractor-trailer rig that bottomed out on a railroad crossing in Encinitas was demolished Thursday night by a freight train that included several tank cars filled with flammable gas.

No one was injured, but the truck was dragged at least 500 feet and severed when the 48-car southbound freight struck it about 8:05 p.m. at the Leucadia Boulevard crossing at Highway 101, said Deputy Larry Van Dusen of the Sheriff’s Department.

The train, which had four tank cars of liquefied petroleum gas, plus some cement and lumber, was traveling about 45 m.p.h. when the engineer was flagged down, Van Dusen said.

The engineer hit the brakes when he saw the truck driver and his helper wave at him about a quarter of a mile from where the truck was stalled, but the train was unable to stop in time, Van Dusen said. Only two wheels on the front part of the locomotive derailed, and none of the other cars suffered any damage, Van Dusen said.

Signs are posted on Leucadia Boulevard prohibiting trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds from crossing, Van Dusen said. The truck, driven by David Paasch, 30, of Florida, got stuck on the track because the grade at the crossing is extremely steep, Van Dusen said.

After becoming hung up, Paasch and his helper, William Miller, realized a train was coming, so they ran north along the tracks to warn the engineer, Van Dusen said.

Paasch has not been cited, but the investigation will not be completed until Monday or Tuesday, Van Dusen said. The company that owns the truck, Newman Transport International, could not be reached for comment.

The accident could have been much worse because the next train, about 10 minutes behind the freight, was a southbound Amtrak passenger train from Oceanside that would have been traveling about 90 m.p.h., said Mike Martin, spokesman for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the operator of the freight train.

A sheriff’s dispatcher was on the phone to railroad officials, warning them that a truck was ahead, when the engineer radioed in almost simultaneously to say that he had crashed into it, Martin said.

About $3,000 damage was done to the locomotive, and damage to the signal system was estimated at $23,000, Martin said.

“We will seek damages from the company that owns the tractor-trailer,” Martin said. “I imagine that they’re calling their driver and yelling at him. . . . Obviously the driver was in the wrong getting on the street. Luckily, no one was hurt.”

Seven people suffered minor injuries when a similar accident occurred last October at the same crossing. A semitrailer rig carrying eight automobiles was destroyed after it got stuck at the tracks and was hit by an Amtrak San Diegan.

That accident, plus some pedestrians who were killed in other train accidents in that area, caused many railroad and law enforcement officials to emphasize safety in that location and put up warning signs, Martin said. He added, “When it’s a tie at the crossing, you’re going to lose.”