From a news report I spotted, (which did not credit the source): "At least 4 people were injured Friday night about 7pm when Amtrak's Heartland Flyer hit a truck carrying automobiles, derailing the locomotive and apparently causing a vehicles from the truck to go airborne and strike one of the passenger cars. The auto loader had become high-centered on a grade crossing just north of the Texas-Oklahoma state line when it was struck by the train. The responding fire department reported 5 passengers were transported to a local hospital with non-critical injuries. The Amtrak report said the figure was actually 4 passengers. The driver of the truck was not injured and no injuries were reported to crew members.. Approximately 110 people were onboard the train bound from Dallas-Ft Worth to Oklahoma City. The National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in the investigation."
News of another crash: NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Authorities say three people were killed and a fourth person was taken to the hospital after a vehicle was struck by a train in North Charleston early Saturday morning. The North Charleston Fire Department says dispatch received the call just before 2:30 a.m. that there was an accident at the Remount Road railroad crossing involving a vehicle and an Amtrak passenger train. <snip> North Charleston Police and CSX are investigating the cause of the accident. [End] Such a saddening event, and so unnecessary. Remount Road is a major thoroughfare and is protected with gates and flashers, both at highway level and up overhead. I'll bet the police and CSX already know that the driver saw the headlight, thought it was a freight and drove around the gates only to be hit by a fast moving Auto Train. And all at 2:30 AM. The train stopped safely. DRK
At 2:30am, I am fearing that there might have been a substance ingested, which helped cause the issue.
You can actually see the locomotive go airborne for a second when it hits the trailer. This video was all over Instagram a few weeks ago when it happened; I'm surprised the train crew was not killed. With such a tall load, they were definitely in the zone of impact. Usually train crews are pretty safe when a passenger car is hit, but this crash had automobiles at cab level since they were on a trailer.
