Big rig, sports car damaged in train crash

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – The driver of a tractor-trailer that got stuck on a Doctors Lake railroad crossing managed to get out before the rib was hit by a CSX freight train just after at 8 a.m. Friday.

The driver, Ryan Fung, 40, of Palm Harbor, called Clay County 911 to say his rig was stuck on the tracks.

Truck driver: "The bars are coming down and the train is about to hit the truck."
911 operator: "You need to get out of the truck, sir." Getting no response, she repeats that three times with increasing urgency.

LISTEN: Uncut driver's call to Clay County 911 center
IMAGES: Train slams into tractor-trailer

Fung did get out in time and was not injured.

The big rig was split in half, with the cab on one side of the train and the trailer -- carrying a McLaren MP4-12C sports car valued at about $240,000 -- on the other side of the tracks.

The train did not derail, but the crash blocked Greenridge Road just before Doctors Lake Drive, closing the front entrance of a neighborhood for several hours.

There is a "No Thru Trucks" sign posted just before the railroad crossing, but residents say it can't be seen until someone has already made the turn onto Greenridge Road.

Fung, who works for Dimmitt Automotive Group in Clearwater, a McLaren dealer, was cited by the Florida Highway Patrol with insufficient undercarriage clearance at a railroad crossing.

Officials say two Amtrak trains bound for Miami with 230 people on board would be delayed for 2½ hours because the tracks are blocked and a second Amtrak due later in the day  would be delayed about 45 minutes.

The McLeran's owner, Jorg Bober, is a physician who lives in a nearby neighborhood.

"This morning I got up and the lights in the house shook a bit," Bober said. "My nurse called me and told me a train hit a car, go the other way. As soon as I hung up the phone, the Dimmitt company called me up on the phone and said, 'Hey, are you sitting down?' I said, 'Yeah.' They said well the guy got in an accident and he said (the car) is totaled."

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

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