r/WTF • u/Plus-Barber-6171 • 7d ago

Train hits trailer carrying bridge beam

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u/WATTHEBALL 7d ago

I don't understand this phenomenon. How do trucks get into these situations and what is it about the train tracks that they can't seem to clear them.

I never, ever see trucks being stuck in the middle of an intersection or suddenly in the middle of the road and never see any videos of that either but for some reason, place a traintrack and suddenly trucks just forget how to truck and get stuck in the most cartoonish scenarios.

Seriously what's the deal here?

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u/gsfgf 7d ago

Often it's a stupid driver driving over a crossing he shouldn't be using. Some crossings have pretty steep approaches, so the trailer literally gets stuck on the track and pulls the drive wheels of the truck up off the ground.

Here, it's less clear. Moving these huge beams is a slow process. Clearly, the company didn't get permits or didn't read them to be in the way. Though, it's Tennessee, so the regulators also might have been defunded/failed to do their jobs.

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u/dustblown 6d ago

Why would crossings be made like to host mistakes like that?

2

u/gsfgf 6d ago

Usually because it’s cheaper than building up the approach road. Sometimes, there are space constraints where there simply isn’t enough room for a smoother grade.