Really, you haven’t seen a train crash like this before. Spectacular footage shows an Amtrak train smashing into a car hauler. This happened in Thackerville, at the Oklahoma-Texas border. As the train approached, the semi-truck carrying a load of cars got stuck right over the tracks.

“The trailer high-centered on the track” right before the train crash

Love County Sheriff Marty Grisham told ABC News, “The trailer high-centered on the tracks causing him to be stuck and not able to move his tractor-trailer rig any further off the track.” Authorities tried to contact the railroad operator to notify the train but it either didn’t happen or it couldn’t be stopped in time. 

Either way, as the 110-passenger train got closer, you can see the crossing gates lower on top of the cars on the upper deck of the trailer. Then, the train’s horn blows right before it smashes into the trailer. The trailer jerks as pieces of some of the cars fly into the air. The truck cab gets spun around and separated from the trailer. 

Both the driver and his dog were inside of the truck cab

Afterward, you can’t see any activity inside of the cab. But the driver and his dog were still inside. According to the sheriff’s office, the driver and dog were miraculously not injured though a bit “shaken up.” However, five people on the train were taken to the hospital after debris from the cars entered some of the train cars. All were non-life-threatening and were released the next day.

As you can tell, the trailer was overloaded causing it to high-center on the tracks. It is unclear whether Oklahoma has laws around maximum towing loads but it is assumed it does. 

Who’s fault was this crash, anyway?

So is the truck driver at fault? That will be up to both the Sheriff’s department and Amtrak. Both entities are investigating the cause. 

By Saturday morning the scene has been cleared and train service resumed. The video was shot by Brandon Sampson from a YouTube post by Storyful.