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WELLINGTON — A construction worker on his lunch break caught video of a train smashing into a work vehicle. Two men were in the 10-wheel semi truck when it was hit by the train, but there were no reported injuries.
James Wood was thinking of his four-year-old son when he pulled out his iPhone and started recording a passing freight train.
"My son has a fascination with trains, so I went to take video of the train for him," Wood said.
But he never expected to see what happened next.
"It was surreal," he said. "It was like a scene out of a movie almost."
Wood, himself in shock, ran to the truck expecting both men in the truck to be dead.
"He got out of the truck and I said, 'Are you alright?' And he said, 'Yeah, I'm fine," and I said, 'Dude, you are the luckiest man alive right now,'" Wood said.
I make sure I check the crossing before I cross it and look both ways. That is what I will take out of this one.
–James Wood
After the accident, there isn't much left of the big semi truck that was being used by a water treatment plant. There isn't much left of the crossing signal either.
Wood's video shows the Union Pacific train was passing through Wellington with horn blowing and the crossing lights flashing. The driver of the truck told police he didn't see the train.
The video clearly shows that no matter how big your truck is, you'll never win a fight against a train.
"I make sure I check the crossing before I cross it and look both ways," Wood said. "That is what I will take out of this one."
Both men in the vehicle refused any medical treatment. The Price River Water Improvement District was contacted to check the condition of the men, but calls have not been returned.
