Winner’s Easy to Pick in a Truck vs. Train Contest

It was train vs. truck Sunday in Tustin, and you can guess which one won.

Luckily, no one was injured, but the truck, which had become stuck on the railroad tracks in an off-limits area, was destroyed when it was knocked 75 feet.

Tustin police said Michael Deats, 23, an Orange County resident whose city was not immediately known, was driving his 1987 mini-truck off-road on private property marked “No Trespassing” and “Dangerous.”

As he tried to drive over the railroad tracks on the property, east of Harvard Avenue and north of Edinger Avenue, the truck became hung up on the rails, according to Sgt. Mark Bergquist. The area does not have a controlled or marked crossing, Bergquist said.

The gravel bed alongside the rails prevented Deats from getting the traction needed to move, so Deats tried to force wood under the tires, Bergquist said.

Just then--about 4:10 p.m.--Deats saw the train coming, police said. He ran.

When the Amtrak train hit the truck, the train was already braking but traveling an estimated 50 m.p.h., police said.

The force of the impact flipped the truck into a nearby flood control ditch, according to police. The truck was destroyed and the train sustained minor damage. The train, on a San Diego-to-Los Angeles run, was able to continue after a routine inspection.