Driver walks away from train wreck
FREDERICKTOWN – A United Parcel Service driver walked away with only minor injuries after a Norfolk Southern Railroad train struck his delivery truck and pushed it 590 feet Wednesday. UPS driver Paul A. Lanzi, 48, of Brownsville was transported to Brownsville Hospital by Ambulance and Chair, Beallsville, for treatment of injuries received in the 4:45 p.m. accident at Route 88 and Maple-Glenn crossing.
According to Centerville Police Cpl. Joseph Impiccini, Lanzi suffered some cuts and bruises but was able to walk to the ambulance after the crash.
After the wreck, the nose of the Norfolk Southern train was pressed into the passenger side of the UPS truck.
The vehicle’s tires were curled under the body of the truck, resting on a pile of gravel that had accumulated underneath while it was pushed down the tracks.
Firefighters from Denbo-Vesta 6 and Fredericktown fire departments worked in the bitter cold to prepare the truck for removal from the tracks. Firefighters at the scene did not immediately know how they were going to remove the damaged vehicle.
According to Impiccini, as the UPS truck came across the track, the train’s engineer, William Gratta, 60, of Belle Vernon, applied the emergency brake to avoid the collision but was unable to stop the empty coal train in time.
The train finally stopped 590 feet from the point of collision and blocked the entrance to Maple Glenn Road, which provides the only access to eight to 10 homes.
Impiccini said the speed limit for trains in that area is 40 mph. He said further investigation should reveal exactly how fast the train was traveling.
According to Impiccini, the Route 88 and Maple-Glenn crossing has no gate, only flashing signals.
Terry Augustine, train master for Norfolk Southern, said his preliminary investigation found no fault in the train engineer’s actions.
Augustine said another worker accompanied Gratta on the train. Neither was injured, but both were visibly shaken by the crash, he said.
According to Augustine, the train was traveling from West Brownsville to the Bailey Mine in Greene County.
Centerville Council President Edward Sukal said this kind of accident happens “every once in a while.”
“Fortunately, this doesn’t happen too often,” Sukal said.