Train hits tractor-trailer near Camas

A BNSF Railway train struck a tractor-trailer Monday afternoon near the Camas-Washougal border. Nobody was injured.

The tractor-trailer was crossing the railroad tracks on a private driveway about one-third of a mile east of the Washougal River Bridge, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. The railroad crossing was marked with warning signs but had no crossing arms, Melonas said.

The cargo train was traveling at about 50 mph and carrying multiple flat cars with empty containers when its operators spotted the tractor-trailer, Melonas said. They applied the train’s emergency brakes in an attempt to stop the train, but it struck the big rig’s trailer. The train missed the truck that was hauling the trailer.

The trailer contained steel piping, and the crash scattered debris across the railway, Melonas said. The tractor-trailer’s driver and the train’s two operators were not injured, he said.

The train was traveling from Roosevelt to Everett on a BNSF main line. It had a stop scheduled in Vancouver to switch out its crew, Melonas said. The train was stuck in Camas on Monday night, however, while its locomotive was repaired.

The rail line, which sees an average of 35 trains each day, was not damaged, Melonas said. It reopened Monday evening.