Excitement at Walnuttown Rd (NS Reading Line)

[dschlegel]

On my way home from the Berks County Courthouse in Reading, PA this morning I heard that 22Z was being held at Blandon while the H47 cleared up at Lyons and crossed over from Main 2 to Main 1.
I pulled into the parking lot at Walnuttown Rd between Blandon and Fleetwood to get a shot of 22Z in the morning sun. Within 5 minutes of being there this guy pulled up past the Low ground clearance sign and proceeded to lift his drive axles off the ground. 
I called NS police first, after getting him out of the cab, and was about to call 911 when a Fleetwood Fire Policewoman pulled up. She took care of calling Berks County 911 via her radio.

Shot 1 was roughly the angle from where I watched the guy get stuck.

Shot 2 shows the 3 or 4 inches of clearance below the drive axles.

Shot 3 shows the heavy duty tow truck lifting the trailer high enough for the landing gear to clear while another tow worker controls the truck while backing down the ramp. That's the driver in the black shirt and khaki pants.

I spoke with a couple of NS maintainers a bit about how often that crossing has trucks hanging up, and we joked how the local rig towing company should station a rig down by the Walnuttown Fire Company.

Enjoy everyone!
Dan

[irondale]

May I have your permission to share this with someone who teaches OTR drivers as part of his job?

[dschlegel]

Absolutely, please be sure to have them hammer home the fact that each crossing has a toll free # to call in case of an emergency like this.

This driver was calling the tow company instead of the RR or 911 when I went to get him out.

[dschlegel]

Here's a screenshot from
Google maps of the approach to this crossing, note the low ground clearance sign.....