Train strikes truck, derails
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
NASHVILLE PLANTATION — A collision involving a train and a logging truck occurred Monday morning at a railroad crossing on the Little Machias Road.
Photo courtesy of Bobbi-Jo Levesque Caron
A COLLISION between an Eastern Maine Railway train and a log truck owned by CAN Trucking and operated by Wayne Pelletier occurred Monday morning on the Little Machias Road in Nashville Plantation. No injuries were reported. The crash caused extensive damage to the truck’s trailer, the train and three railcars. State Police determined the cause of the crash was the truck driver’s failure to stop at the stop sign at the railroad crossing.
“On Oct. 14 at approximately 10:45 a.m., the State Police received a report of an accident involving a trailer-truck and a train on the Little Machias Road in Nashville Plantation,” said Sgt. Chad Fuller, of the Maine State Police.
According to Fuller, 48-year-old Wayne Pelletier was operating a 2003 Western Star tractor-trailer truck, owned by CAN Trucking of Fort Kent, hauling logs as he traveled north on the Little Machias Road.
“Pelletier failed to stop at the stop sign at the railroad crossing. A train, owned by Eastern Maine Railway Company out of St. John, New Brunswick, was operated by Christopher Labonte, 45,” said Fuller.
Fuller said the train and three railcars were knocked off the tracks by the impact. The train missed the cab of the truck but struck the loaded log trailer, causing it to roll over on its side.
“There was extensive damage done to both the train and the truck and trailer,” said Fuller.
The Ashland Ambulance Service, Maine Department of Environmental Protection and railroad officials responded to the scene to assist with the investigation. No one was injured as a result of the crash.
The accident remains under investigation. Damages are estimated to be around $1 million.
