Train Destroys Tractor-Trailer Stuck On Tracks: Watch Video

VILLA RICA, GA — A tractor-trailer that got stuck on railroad tracks in front of the Villa Rica police headquarters was destroyed by a train Thursday afternoon — and the entire incident was recorded on video.

At about 4 p.m., the unidentified truck driver tried to slip over the tracks as the gates closed at the intersection of Highway 78 and South Carroll Road.

He turned too tight, though, and got his back wheels stuck in a ditch next to the tracks, according to Capt. Keith Shaddix of the Villa Rica Police Department.

When the driver backed up to free his truck, he moved back onto the tracks. That’s when the truck hit the trailer, demolishing it and scattering its cargo of meat nearly a mile down the track.

A camera at police headquarters across the street caught the wreck on video. (See below)

Villa Rica utility crews, Norfolk Southern Railway crews and a local wrecker service cleaned up the roads and had the railway reopened in about two hours, according to WAGA-TV in Atlanta.

Nearby signs restrict six-wheel traffic in the area, but truck drivers often disregard them, sometimes being misguided by their GPS, Shaddix said.

“This is the first (wreck) I remember at this crossing,” said Shaddix, who’s been with the Villa Rica police for 20 years, “but we’ve had trucks take out crossing arms before.”

The driver, who was not injured, will be charged with disregarding a railroad crossing warning, according to Shaddix. The incident is still under investigation.