Police: Truck driver suspected of trying to ‘beat a train’ caused 15 car derailment

Colorado police say that they suspect that a major train derailment was caused by a truck driver attempting to beat a train across the tracks.

The crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 4, south of Platteville, Colorado.

Train derails in crash with semi on Highway 85

A train derailment near Platteville has closed both north and southbound lanes of Hwy 85 near CR 30/ Hwy 66.

Posted by 9NEWS (KUSA) on Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Authorities say that a Union Pacific train was hauling freight to Salt Lake City when it collided with a truck at the County Road 30 and Highway 85, The Denver Channel reports.

The crash caused at least 15 railcars and two engines to derail. Some of the derailed railcars came to a stop in the northbound lanes of Highway 85.

The truck driver suffered only minor injuries. No one else was hurt.

Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer say that their initial investigation indicates that “the semi possibly attempted to beat the train.”  The crash is still under investigation.

UPDATE: Platteville Police Chief says semi tried to "beat the train" and was struck, causing the train to derail.———————————————Highway 85 is a ghost town. CDOT successfully cleared all cars waiting on the highway. It’s going to take a long time to get this train derailment cleaned up. Hwy 85 northbound not expected to open until sometime tonight. Hwy 85 southbound expected to re-open around lunchtime

Posted by Emily Allen FOX31 on Wednesday, December 4, 2019

The Colorado State Patrol warned drivers to expect a long closure of all lanes of Highway 85.