RED OAK, Iowa — The driver of a crew transport vehicle was injured today (Aug. 8, 2024) when his vehicle was hit by a railcar from a BNSF derailment.
The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency reports that the county communications center received a report of a derailment at 6:05 a.m. Emergency crews that responded found four grain cars had derailed, with one on top of a parked Railcrew Xpress vehicle. The driver was able to extricate himself from the vehicle and was transported to Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Two streets near the derailment scene are expected to be closed for an extended period.
Red Oak is on BNSF’s Creston Subdivision, and is about 40 miles southeast of Omaha, Neb.
Not even a FORD tuff pickup would have survived.
LUCKY DRIVER.
Might be there because of a crew change being done. The crew transport vehicles are notorious for parking close to the tracks because the crews don’t like to walk any further than they have to carrying their gear.
They can still park farther from the track and back up once the train has stopped. Laziness is no excuse for a possible loss of life, no matter who requests it. 25 feet more would have made all the difference…
Ho Hum. Another day, another derailment. And the reason that vehicle was there is???