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When we send in our OWN accident reports after a collision. Well there Mr. Policeman I wasn't speeding, I was blowing my horn at the private crossing, I put my brakes on, and I had my running lights on. And the cops go OOOOOOhKkkk. SSShhhh don't tell the cops the work train is supposed to yield at crossings, the sight triangle was 80% missing, the road was dog legged and humped, we was going 40 mph over the speed limit, our headlights were burned out, and the brakes failed. Don't want to break our perfect 1000 batting record of NO faults on collisions in our SELF reporting. LIVINGSTON -- A man was thrown from his vehicle and severely injured when a train broadsided his pickup truck west of here Wednesday morning. "He was ejected," said Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Mount, who was investigating the collision at a railroad crossing on O'Rea Creek Road The train was a small one, a "helper unit" that consisted of five locomotives, but no freight cars. It was headed eastbound down a substantial grade when it struck the Chevrolet truck traveling south across the tracks. The man driving the truck was the only occupant. His name still had not been released by late Wednesday afternoon because his family had not been notified, said MHP patrolman Dan Amundson. Immediately after the wreck Mount said the driver's "condition was grave." The man was taken to Livingston Memorial Hospital and stabilized in preparation for an air-ambulance flight to Billings. The train demolished the passenger side of the pickup, scattering parts of the vehicle and other debris as it shoved the vehicle 60 yards past the crossing. The train stopped about 500 yards past the wreck. A Montana Rail Link crew was operating the train and MRL spokesman Lynda Frost said Wednesday the accident remains under investigation. The train speed limit in that area is 35 mph. A tape that monitors locomotive speed has been removed from the train and will be reviewed, she said. "We have to analyze the tape," Frost said. The pickup was registered in Carbon County and Mount said it might take some time to identify the driver and notify his family. There was plenty of identification in the truck, Mount said, but it belonged to two people. The collision left reminders on both sides of the tracks: a cooler, a toolbox, several pieces of insulation, a broken brake shoe and even a muddy work boot and a winter hat. The last car-train collision in Park County occurred on Rustad Lane east of town and was not fatal, Frost said. "Whenever there is one, it's too often" Mount said. O'Rea Creek Road, a dirt road running north off the frontage road between Livingston and Jackson Creek and leading up to a growing subdivision, does not have a barrier at the railroad tracks. But the crossing is well marked and seems to have good visibility from the road. Amundson said he didn't want to speculate on how the truck happened to be on the track and the driver "is not in any condition to comment." ____________________________ LIVINGSTON - The man injured in a collision with a locomotive west of here Wednesday has been identified. He is John Washinsky, 22, formerly of Red Lodge, but now living in Livingston, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. He was driving a Chevrolet pickup Wednesday morning and crossing the Montana Rail Link tracks on the O'Rea Creek Road when he was broadsided by a set of five locomotives about 8:40 a.m. Washinsky wasn't wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the truck, which the train dragged for about 60 yards before it broke free. The eastbound train hit the truck's passenger side. Washinsky was treated at Livingston Memorial Hospital, then taken to Billings Deaconess Hospital, where he is in serious condition. No further information was available on his injuries. MRL spokeswoman Lynda Frost said a review of a tape on board the locomotive showed the train was traveling at 35 miles per hour, which is the speed limit on that downhill stretch of track. Frost said MRL has a critical incident team which offers crew members counseling if they desire it after an incident like this. The crew members can take time off if they need it and return to work "when they're ready," Frost said Thursday.
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