Logging truck spills cargo on moving train

In an effort to avoid a collision with a moving commercial train, a fully loaded logging truck rolled over into a ditch and spilled its cargo onto the train, tying up traffic on U.S. Route 1 in Danforth on Monday afternoon, police said.

No one was injured in the accident, which occurred about 1 p.m., said Deputy Thomas Chambers of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department in Machias.

The truck driver, 29-year-old John Martin, an employee of Little Rock Trucking Co. of Richmond Corner, New Brunswick, was wearing his seat belt but was cited for driving at an imprudent speed, Chambers said.

The train’s two conductors, James Larson and James Brown of Eastern Maine Railway in Brownville, were not charged with any offenses.

Martin had rounded a corner and traveled over a hill on U.S. Route 1 when he came upon the flashing signals at the railroad crossing, Chambers said. Unable to stop, Martin drove the truck into a ditch to avoid hitting the 4,300-foot-long, 60-car train, Chambers said.

The truck, carrying between 80 and 100 logs, rolled over, which sent some of the logs crashing into the eighth car of the train, causing minor damage to a lever on the car, Chambers said.

But the conductors were not aware of the accident until they were informed by police at a docking station in Vanceboro, Chambers said.

Traffic was reduced to one lane at different times throughout the afternoon as cleanup began. The logging truck was “totaled,” Chambers said, and another trailer was sent to remove the logs.

“The hardest thing was getting someone to get the logs removed. Everyone had their equipment in the woods,” Chambers said.

State police are looking into “issues surrounding [Martin’s] commercial license status in Virginia,” Chambers said.