Foggy Fresno crossing scare, worker stops train before collision

A Union Pacific engineering employee stopped an approaching train in time after a van became stranded on tracks in foggy conditions near Fresno, averting what could have been a deadly collision. The near-miss showed how little margin exists when visibility drops at a railroad crossing and a vehicle cannot clear the rails.

Union Pacific has pointed to a closely related Fresno rescue that unfolded with similar urgency. On Oct. 13, 2021, Rudy Maldonado, then a 16-year Union Pacific Maintenance of Way welder, was driving to a Fresno job site when he spotted a vehicle stranded on a crossing and used his computer to estimate that a train was about four-and-a-half miles away. He contacted dispatch, and the train was stopped before impact.

In that case, the vehicle’s driver-side wheel and rim had snapped off the axle, leaving a woman and her two young grandchildren stuck on the track. Police blocked the crossing until the vehicle could be removed safely. Union Pacific later honored Maldonado’s actions with a Courage to Care Salute, underscoring how railroad employees sometimes become the first line of defense in a crisis.

The Fresno incidents also fit a wider pattern of danger at Central Valley crossings, where heavy rail traffic and poor visibility can turn a mistake into an emergency. In 2018, Union Pacific Police and Fresno Police teamed up for a railroad safety operation that produced more than 40 warnings or citations in just a few hours. A Union Pacific special agent told ABC30 that a train moving 55 mph can take more than a mile to stop, a reminder that motorists cannot rely on a train being able to brake quickly.

Union Pacific says vehicles stopped on railroad tracks are an emergency and should be reported immediately to its Response Management Communication Center at 1-888-UPRRCOP, or 877-7267. That guidance is meant for moments exactly like the one near Fresno, when fog, timing and a stalled vehicle leave no room for delay and a fast call can keep a crossing scare from becoming a fatal collision.