Walmart semi wedged under rail overpass in Oregon

[CHamilton]

Walmart semi wedged under rail overpass in Oregon

The driver, Glenn Bickford, 63, of Coos Bay told police that he had left a Walmart in South Salem and used a GPS guide to get him to a store in Monmouth. It told him the most direct route, which took him along South River Road towards Independence.
After the mishap, Bickford stayed at the scene and cooperated with deputies. He thought the rail overpass sign read 13 feet nine inches but it actually read 12 feet nine inches. His trailer was 13 feet three inches tall.
He was cited for violating road use limits.

 

[fairviewroad]

By way of reference, these are not the tracks used by Amtrak's Cascades. These are Portland & Western freight-only

tracks. I believe this section may only see a handful of trains each day.

Incidentally a very similar incident happened 3 years ago at another bridge on the very same road. (The road

crosses under the tracks multiple times in a few miles)

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/Semi-driver-blames-GPS-for-missing-low-clearance-trestle-81242192.html

 

[AlanB]

I hate when that happens! :lol:

 

[chakk]

MIssed it by that much! With apologies to Maxwell Smart.

 

[JayPea]

Ahhh, the joys of relying on a GPS unit! Someone will no doubt blame the railroad for building an overpass with too low a clearance.

 

[fairviewroad]

As a follow-up, the tow truck on its way to rescue this unfortunate 18-wheeler had a bit of a problem of its own:

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130226/UPDATE/130226009/Tow-truck-crashes-down-hill-en-route-River-Road-S-semi-trailer-crash

 

[fairviewroad]

Yesterday was just not a good day for trucks operating in the vicinity of railroad tracks in Oregon:

Truck carrying jet fuel goes down embankment, gets struck by train in Umatilla County

 

[fairviewroad]

Here's an amusing letter to the editor regarding the media coverage of the incident mentioned in the OP:

Letter: Headline assigned blame to the wrong object
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013303020059

 

[DET63]

By way of reference, these are not the tracks used by Amtrak's Cascades. These are Portland & Western freight-only

tracks. I believe this section may only see a handful of trains each day.

Incidentally a very similar incident happened 3 years ago at another bridge on the very same road. (The road

crosses under the tracks multiple times in a few miles)

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/Semi-driver-blames-GPS-for-missing-low-clearance-trestle-81242192.html

Actually S. River Road goes under the tracks only twice. There is also a level crossing in the area. There is a connection between Riverdale Road and S. River Road that goes under the tracks with a 9'4" clearance a few east of its junction with S. River Road.

 

[jmx53]

There is a rail overpass that crosses Gregson St. in Durham, NC with a clearance of 11' 8". There is a passenger train that uses these tracks, but I don't know which one. High clearance vehicle drivers not paying attention to the low clearance signs and mangling their rigs here is so common that they have set up a pair of cameras to catch the action. There is a steel I-beam over the road a few feet ahead of the bridge that is hard to see...it causes lots of damage to the truck trailers, but that is much better than the trailer damaging the bridge and tracks! For some cringeworthy entertainment, watch their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68/videos.

With regard to GPS units, they do make units for trucks that are programmed with information about low clearances, bridges with low weight limits, hazmat restricted tunnels, and roads where trucks are not allowed, so they will give the truck driver a route to avoid these roads. Unfortunately there are truck drivers who use car GPS units that don't have this info and so get their rig into trouble.

 

[trainman74]

For some cringeworthy entertainment, watch their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68/videos.

Your link got a little mangled -- here's the correct one.

The Carolinian and the Piedmont are the passenger trains that use that overpass -- it's a few hundred feet west of the Durham Amtrak station.

 

[jmx53]

For some cringeworthy entertainment, watch their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68/videos.

Your link got a little mangled -- here's the correct one.

The Carolinian and the Piedmont are the passenger trains that use that overpass -- it's a few hundred feet west of the Durham Amtrak station.

It looks like it interpreted the period I put at the end of the sentence as being part of the link, so that's why it doesn't work right. The link you provided gets people to the channel, so Thanks Trainman74!