BEATRICE -   A pickup pulling a flatbed trailer and hauling a farm implement was struck by a southbound Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train late Tuesday morning, northwest of Beatrice. 

It appeared the driver of the pickup escaped injury….the train apparently hitting the back of the truck and front of the trailer as the pickup was clearing the railroad crossing, westbound.  Authorities say the pickup pulling the trailer was driven by 56-year-old Jorge Martinez, of Laredo, Texas.  He was ticketed for failure to yield to the train.  

The collision blocked West Hickory Road at the crossing five miles northwest of Beatrice, next to the Koch Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant.  The pickup ended up west of the crossing in a ditch, while the trailer and farm implement came to rest just east of the tracks.

Gage County Sheriff’s Officers, Beatrice Fire and Rescue and Beatrice Rural Fire responded to the scene, at around 11:30 a.m.  The highway was blocked at the railroad crossing for several hours, forcing motorists west or east, to find another route around the area.  

It’s not certain how fast the train was traveling at the time of the collision. 

The collision separated the pickup and flatbed, heavily damaging the trailer and farm equipment it was carrying.