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Paint Truck Smashed by NJ Train

Friday, February 1, 2013

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An NJ Transit train full of commuters collided with a tractor-trailer full of paint in Little Falls, NJ, leaving several injuries and one whopping mess.

NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr. said the diesel-engine train was carrying 71 passengers and crew when it hit the rig carrying several hundred containers of paint at the peak of Wednesday (Jan. 30) morning's rush hour.

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Hundreds of buckets of paint spilled Wednesday (Jan. 30) in NJ when a train struck a tractor-trailer hauling the paint.

The train was traveling on the Montclair-Boonton line and struck the tractor-trailer at 8:15 a.m. at the intersection of Main Street and Fairfield Avenue, according to Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit.

Accident Details, Injuries

A preliminary investigation shows the tractor-trailer was backing up after failing to make a right turn when the crossing gates came down, Durso said. The train did not have time to stop, crushing the tractor-trailer and sending plastic paint buckets flying across the road.

"As for that train, it finally came to rest here several blocks away from the crossing where the accident took place. The impact was so hard the front door was blown out, leaving the train covered in paint both inside and out," said Durso.

Durso confirmed that the crossing gates were working properly at the time of the crash.

Ten people were injured in the wreck, two of them seriously. The seriously injured included a NJ Transit employee and a school crossing guard who was struck by debris.

"She had paint buckets on top of her and whatnot," a witness told a local news channel.

The accident shut down the line and a few roadways in the area for several hours. Crews finished repairing the train line early Thursday (Jan. 31).

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jaswinder Singh, was not seriously injured and was issued two summonses: one for careless driving and one for violating an active rail crossing. Singh was driving a truck for Malhi Transport. 

A woman who answered the company's phone number only said, "No English, no English."

The company, located in Carteret, NJ, only has one driver and one truck, according to information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Comment from Donald L Crusan, (2/1/2013, 7:45 AM)

Way to much of this lately: The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jaswinder Singh, was not seriously injured and was issued two summonses: one for careless driving and one for violating an active rail crossing. Singh was driving a truck for Malhi Transport. A woman who answered the company's phone number only said, "No English, no English." As you W. PA hands recall, we had a similar one on I70 late last year. Deregulation can't work, won't work, and never will work to the benefit if the community at large. One death alone by these rogue truckers & their usually unsafe trucks should out weigh any percieved benefits derived by cheap transport.

Comment from Rick Thomas, (2/2/2013, 12:57 PM)

Who`s Paint is that in Yellow 5 gal.cans? Ant chance they could re-work it into 1`s at a discount? Need data sheets and MSDS asap.