Harrington motorist hurt in crash with train

BUCKSPORT – A Harrington woman was taken by helicopter to an area hospital after a Ford Explorer she was driving struck a train as it crossed Route 15 Sunday.

The accident took place about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Erica Atcherson, 28, who had not been wearing a seat belt, suffered lacerations, abrasions and contusions over most of her body, including a large cut over her left eye, Bucksport police Officer Ryan Knight said.

Atcherson had lost “quite a lot of blood” immediately after the accident. The helicopter took Atcherson to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where her status was not immediately available.

Officials were not sure what caused Atcherson to drive her green 1993 Ford Explorer into the side of the sixth car behind the train engine as she drove downhill while heading north on Route 15, Knight said. It appeared that Atcherson had attempted to swerve to the right into an area beside the tracks at the last second, but no brake marks were found at the scene.

The train had been moving from left to right across the road, and Atcherson’s vehicle struck the train, then likely veered away from the train instead of beneath it because of the last-second attempt to swerve, the officer said. The car was demolished.

The train, owned by Springfield Terminal Railway in Bucksport, was operated by Donald Morin, 41, of Hinckley. Police said he had not noticed the collision and the train continued traveling north, Knight said. After officials contacted the rail carrier, the train was stopped and inspected. Only minor damage was found.

The red lights that warn of a train crossing had been activated and were clearly visible. But the area does not have a mechanism that blocks the road off, Knight said.

The driver of a car that had stopped on the other side of the tracks noticed that a vehicle had struck the train and called for help from a cell phone.