UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: This story has been updated with more information from the sheriff's office and the identity of the man killed in the crash.
A Burns man was killed after his pickup hit a stopped train Friday at a railroad crossing on County Road 154 north of Interstate 80 east of Cheyenne, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office reports.
The fatality is the first in the state in at least five years involving an automobile and train, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
The driver of the pickup has been identified as 45-year-old John Balczewski, who was not wearing a seat belt, the sheriff’s office reports.
At around 5:20 p.m. Balczewski’s truck was traveling north on County Road 154 when it struck the side of the stationary Union Pacific train, the LCSO reports. The railroad crossing gate was down, and the crossing’s warning lights were flashing at the time.
An investigation is underway to determine what led to the crash, including whether Balczewski drove into the train intentionally or accidentally, said Brandon Warner, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
The train’s crew was not hurt, Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen said in an email.
Laramie County resident Jeska Smith provided a video to the Cowboy State Daily on Monday that shows the aftermath of the deadly collision.
The short video taken from Smith’s car as it approached the scene in the dark shows the train stopped on the tracks across a road with more than half a dozen emergency vehicles with lights flashing.
Hit The Side Of The Train
Smith, 35, happened upon the collision at the Egbert Road crossing near Burns shortly after emergency responders arrived.
Smith was traveling with her 13-year-old son to her grandmother’s home when she spotted several sheriff’s office vehicles and ambulances surrounding the crossing that is equipped with crossing arms and emergency lights.
“As we approached, we noticed that the vehicle had hit the side of the train car,” Smith told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “It was a pretty bad deal.”
Smith tried to drive around the collision, but the road was blocked by emergency vehicles.
She then pulled into a driveway and watched as an emergency medical helicopter landed to help the victim.
Smith said she frequently travels over the crossing and hasn’t noticed any problems with the crossing arms or warning lights.
Smith said she doesn’t worry about having to drive through the crossing in the future.
"It’s a sad memory, and my son was shaken up,” she said. “We have grown up in that area, and we have always been taught to look twice, even if the crossing arms are up.”
There are 391 public railroad crossings in Wyoming, said WYDOT spokesman Doug McGee. Of those, 221 are protected with gates and flashing lights, 45 have flashing lights only, 121 have yield signs and “crossbuck” railroad warning signs, while 4 have stop signs and crossbucks.
“Crashes involving vehicles and trains at those crossings are very rare,” he said.
