Pickup crash into train near Stanwood is a mystery

Published 10:11 am Thursday, January 28, 2010

STANWOOD – Detectives and railroad officials are trying to figure out what happened early this morning when a pickup truck crashed into a freight train, causing one car to derail.

Police were called around 1:40 a.m. after the truck apparently hit the seventh car being pulled by the train, Snohomish County sheriff’s Lt. John Flood said. The crash occurred near the Miller Road rail crossing, south of the Pioneer Highway.

The truck got wedged between freight cars and was dragged about a mile before the conductor realized something was wrong and stopped the locomotive, Flood said.

No driver was behind the wheel when investigators checked. There was no sign of trauma and the keys were still in the ignition, leading investigators to question whether the vehicle may have been stolen and the crash was an attempt to get rid of it.

Still, police planned to comb tall grass alongside the tracks this morning to see if the driver may have been thrown from the truck.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas said the 43-car train was traveling about 25 miles per hour when the truck hit it. An empty tank car derailed.

Inspection and repairs are expected to close the track, which also carries Amtrak trains, until midmorning today. About 15 trains use that stretch of track daily.

Amtrak passengers were being transported by bus while the tracks are cleared.

The crash will be investigated by both local and federal investigators, Flood said.

Railroads are governed under federal law, and interfering with the track could bring federal charges, he said.

In Flood’s 20-year career as a sheriff’s deputy he’s never seen an incident quite like this.

“We’ve never had one with the key in the ignition and no driver,” he said.