Staff report
A driver trying to turn onto Railroad Street turned onto the railroad tracks instead Thursday evening and her car got rear-ended by an oncoming freight train.
The driver, whose name wasn’t available, got out of the car safely after it became stuck on the tracks. The woman police said was about 60 years old was driving west on East Monroe and meant to make a left turn onto South Railroad Street.
Salisbury Police Sgt. R.A. Efird said, “Apparently, she went past Railroad and turned south onto the railroad tracks.”
When she couldn’t get off the tracks, the driver got out of the Mazda RX7. The engineer of a southbound Norfolk Southern train told police the car was stationary when he saw it. The engineer apparently locked down the train, Efird said, but hit the car and pushed it between a quarter of a mile and half a mile.
The car ended up on the parallel set of tracks, pointing north, its front tires resting on each rail. The rear end of the car had been crushed in nearly to where the woman would have been seated.
“I’m surprised there’s no more damage than what it was,” Efird said.