WINTERPORT – A local woman managed to get safely out of her van moments before it was demolished by a freight train after the van became stuck on the tracks Saturday night.

Deborah L. Galinski, 37, was driving a 1996 Nissan van west on Route 139 at 11:30 p.m. when she hit a patch of ice and skidded out of control.

The skidding van hit a train safety box and came to rest across the tracks. The van’s air bag deployed. As Galinski attempted to move her vehicle off the tracks, she looked up and noticed a train was bearing down on her from the south.

Galinski left the van and stood off in a ditch as the train approached.

Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway engineer Bradford Benson, 52, saw the van on the tracks and applied the brakes, but was unable to stop the train in time.

The locomotive demolished the van and pushed it aside before the train finally came to a stop about 300 yards down the track.

Conductor Robert Butler, 32, checked on Galinski and found she was doing fine. A Winterport Ambulance crew also checked her out as a precaution because the air bag had deployed. She was given a clean bill of health. Damage to Galinski’s van was estimated at $6,500, and the wreck had to be towed from the tracks.

After the delay, the train continued on to its destination.

Waldo County sheriff’s Deputies Mark Shade and Dale Brown handled the investigation.