GLENDORA — An Amtrak passenger train plowed into a log truck at a rural crossing just south of here Thursday morning (July 21), and the driver of the truck was able to walk away.
Gary “Farm Boy” Schmitz, 39, of Pittsboro, the owner-operator of the tractor-trailer rig, reportedly suffered only minor superficial injuries in the 9 o’clock collision on Fedric Road.
He was examined by paramedics in the rear of an ambulance near the tracks, roughly one mile east of U.S. Highway 49 East, but was not transported for medical care.
“I’m sore, but I’m blessed to be here,” Schmitz said before leaving the scene with family members at 11:15.
The trucker noted that he was eastbound on Fedric Road as he approached the elevated railroad crossing, which has no electronic signaling or gates.
“At that crossing, you have to get up on the track just a little to see back toward the north. By the time I saw the train, it was too late,” Schmitz said. “I had to try to get out of the way. I didn’t have time to stop and back up.”
The cab of the truck cleared the tracks, but the southbound City of New Orleans train, traveling at a reported 45 mph, struck in the tandem axle area of the unloaded trailer and dragged the entire vehicle about 400 feet before coming to a stop.
Schmitz was able to crawl out of the mangled wreckage of his semi truck cab before rescue workers arrived.
“The conductor saw him out walking around near the truck and asked him, ‘You got out of that?’” said Tallahatchie County Deputy Sheriff Benji McKinney, expressing the train worker’s amazement.
McKinney added that Schmitz told him he was wearing his seat belt.
Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said the train was operating from Chicago to New Orleans with 238 passengers and an undetermined number of crew members on board.
“No injuries were reported to any of the passengers or crew,” Schulz noted.
The train, consisting of a locomotive, baggage car and seven passenger cars, was delayed more than four hours, Schulz added. Three hours were spent at the scene for investigation and clearing of the tracks, followed by another hour or so at the Amtrak station in Greenwood, he said.
“The crew did request relief, as they sometimes do in situations like this, so there was a delay while we brought in a new crew,” Schulz explained. “Once the new crew was in place, the train was allowed to proceed on its way through to New Orleans.”
Multiple emergency agencies flocked to the accident scene, including fire department equipment and personnel from Sumner, Tutwiler and Webb. However, no fire erupted from the wreck.
The East and West Tallahatchie school districts sent more than a half-dozen school buses to the location. East Tallahatchie Superintendent, Dr. Ben Kennedy, said the dispatch was in response to a request from Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Director Thad Roberts, explaining the initial speculation that the train’s passengers and luggage might have to be transported from the scene by bus.
For a while, a small group of passengers from the Amtrak stood or sat on the ground in the shade of an adjacent grove of trees, luggage in hand, watching and awaiting further instructions. Crew members eventually asked them to return to the air-conditioned comfort of the train, assuring them it would continue on its journey as soon as possible.
IN THE PHOTO: A Mississippi Department of Transportation official talks with a train crew member at the scene of a Thursday morning (July 21) Amtrak collision with a log truck. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
(This article was updated at 10:52 a.m. on July 29, 2016.)
