Tractor collides with train near Phillips

 Deputy Peters gives info on wreck at railroad crossing

  • The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, Nebraska State Patrol and Phillips Fire and Rescue personnel are shown at the scene near a railroad crossing where a tractor collided with a train on Thursday afternoon.
    The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, Nebraska State Patrol and Phillips Fire and Rescue personnel are shown at the scene near a railroad crossing where a tractor collided with a train on Thursday afternoon.

    A tractor collided with a train at a crossing on North F Road between West 14 and 15 Roads Thursday afternoon leaving the driver of the tractor critically injured.
    Hamilton County Sheriff Deputy Connor Peters, who was at the scene of the wreck, gave a breakdown on what happened.
    “The tractor would have been southbound on that road, came up to a stop sign, according to the train conductor,” Peters reported. “It did sort of a brake check, I guess is what you would call it, leading into just a (rolling stop) at the stop sign. The conductor thought he was going to stop and then he didn’t.”
    The train hit the front wheels and cab of the tractor, ejecting the driver from the farming equipment, according to Peters. The driver was next to the tractor when found. The tractor spun a few feet with the back end of the wreckage cresting a nearby hill. The damage to the train, estimated to be going 35 miles per hour, was minimal.
    The driver was transported to a hospital in Grand Island and then later Life Flighted to a facility in Omaha. Peters reported that as of Thursday the driver was alive and unresponsive.
    First on the scene was Phillips Fire and Rescue with Nebraska State Patrol also accompanying the Sheriff’s Department. Peters stated that NSP is assisting the Sheriff’s Department reconstructing the accident.
    The tractor was specifically a dedicated sprayer tractor and the vehicle was reported to have some herbicide in the tanks.
    “We’re told that the tanks can hold 1,500 gallons, but we don’t believe that it was filled,” Peters elaborated.
    Lone Tree Towing company brought its hazmat team to clean up the wreckage later that day.
    The crossing at the accident has railroad signs and stops signs, but no crossing guard or signal for oncoming trains, according to Peters. He recommended cautions for farmers and other drivers at these types of crossings.
    “The biggest piece of advice that I can give is that it’s a stop sign; it’s not a slowdown sign,” he said. “You really, especially with corn (growing season) coming up here soon, need to stop at the stop sign just to make sure it’s safe for everybody, that no wrecks occur.”